Deadly IM
by omgxRIKUxyay
Summary: The IM and phone calls scared Kairi. But not as much as finding out who sent them.
1. Prologue

**Summary: **The IM and phone calls scared Kairi. But not as much as finding out who sent them.

**xXxXx**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any related materials.

**xXxXx**

**Prologue**

Sora12836: riku, we all kno ur jealous cuz u can't dance

luv2laugh06: is it tru, riku

luv2laugh06: r u a bad dancer?

way2sexy7: no, kairi, soras just an idiot

luv2laugh06: lol thats for sure

Sora12836: hey! not nice!

I laughed as I sat back in my seat, staring at the computer screen. In the internet chat room we were in, my friends, Riku and Sora, and I were, for some reason, discussing dancing. I couldn't remember how exactly they had gotten onto the topic, though . . . Oh, yeah. Now I remember.

Riku and I had been talking online for a while. Then, we noticed that Sora had signed on, so Riku invited him into our conversation. Bad idea. At first, we just talked about school and junk like that, the usual, until Sora went away for about five minutes. When he come back he kept talking about how good the raviolis he just got were. Although Riku and I kept attempting to change the subject, Sora wouldn't let us. Either he really loved raviolis or he wanted to annoy Riku and me, probably the latter. The conversation went something like this:

Sora12836 has returned

Sora12836: wow I just got these rlly awesome raviolis

luv2laugh06: ew! I hate raviolis! neway do u guys kno what 2nites math homework is?

Sora12836: how could u hate ravioli! they r awesome! especially these ones!

way2sexy7: uh . . . that's great sora . . .

way2sexy7: kai, we had 2 do pgs 346-349 in the workbook

luv2laugh06: thnx

way2sexy7: so r u 2 going 2 the carnival on Friday

way2sexy7?

Sora12836: If I'm not 2 busy eating these amazing raviolis

And it went on and on like that for fifteen minutes before Riku finally exploded and started yelling (well typing in capital letters) at Sora that nobody cares. Sora didn't answer for a few minutes. I tried to change the subject again, assuming that Sora was done with the whole ravioli thing. but before I could Sora started typing again.

Sora12836: u kno raviolis shuld be able 2 dance w/out ppl judging them

luv2laugh06: sora . . . raviolis can't dance

Sora12836: well, mayb they could if ppl wouldn't judge them

way2sexy7: raviolis wouldn't b able 2 dance even if ppl didn't judge them

Sora12836: riku, we all know ur jealous cuz u can't dance

And that is what lead us to our current conversation. Man, I have some strange friends . . . but they keep things entertaining.

Just then a new window popped up. It was the IM catcher, which read:

'You have received an instant message from the following screen name:

juschillen69

Would you like to accept?'

I had never heard of that screen name. Scratching my head, I wondered who it could be.

Interrupting Sora and Riku's conversation about fish pudding (I told you they're strange), I asked them if they knew who it could be, but they both said no.

"_It could be one of my friends from school with a different screen name_," I thought to myself. So I clicked the 'accept' button. Now, I regret ever doing that.

I couldn't believe what the IM said.

**xXxXx**

**A/N: **Yeah, it's short. But I wanted to end with a cliffie. Review so I know what you think.


	2. Joke or not?

**A/N: **Here's the second chapter of my story. It's going to be pretty short, but it tells you what happens after the cliffie last chapter. Even though the prologue was in Kairi's POV, I think the rest of the story will be better if I do it in third person, so this chapter along with everyone from here on, will be in third person view.

**xXxXx**

**Chapter One – Joke...or Not?**

Kairi stared at the computer screen, jaw hanging open. When she regained her composure, she reread the IM she had just received. It had just about every profanity she had ever heard several times along with some threats to kill her in between. She knew that there were a lot of girls (and some boys) that were jealous of her because she was friends with Sora and Riku, two of the hottest guys in school, but who would write something like _this?_

Who was this 'justchillen69'? Were they serious? Were they just joking? Either way this person was sick.

Kairi was so spooked that she signed off immediately without even saying anything to Riku or Sora. Soon after, though, she realized this, and it was then that came up with an idea. She ran downstairs to her kitchen to get the phone, but when she got there it was already ringing.

"Hello?"

Kairi heard nothing but raspy breathing on the other end. She laughed. Sora often did this to scare her, even though Kairi always knew it was just him. "C'mon, Sora. I know it's you. I'm not as stupid as you think I am!" But there was no answer besides the breathing again. Something was wrong. Sora always answered her after she told him she knew it was just him playing a prank. _Always._ "Sora?" More breathing. "Sora, did you send me an IM tha–"

_CLICK!_

The caller hung up.

Now Kairi was so frightened she was shaking. She started down the hall to her mother's room. But halfway there, she realized that she wasn't thinking straight. As always, her mother was out on a date, and Kairi was home alone.

Great! Just great!

Returning to the kitchen, she continued to do what she originally planned on doing. Dialing Sora's number gave her trouble, though, because her fingers were shaking so badly. Finally, she got it right, and she heard the familiar ringing sound in her ear and then, a familiar voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Sora!" Kairi realized she was breathing heavily, probably on the verge of bursting into tears.

"Oh, hey, Kairi! Why'd you get off line so suddenly? Are you okay? You don't sound too good."

"Sora, can I sleep over tonight? It's important!"

"Well, my mom doesn't really like you sleeping over since you're a girl, but I guess–"

"Thanks so much! Could you call Riku and see if he can come too?"

"Okay, But, Kairi, why do y–"

"I'll tell you when I get over there! Bye!"

Sora heard a click at the other end. He placed the phone back on the hook. Wondering what was wrong with Kairi, he picked it up again and started dialing Riku's number.

**xXxXx**

**A/N: **See, told you it would be short.


	3. Sleep Over

**xXxXx**

**Chapter Two–Sleep over**

"Alright, I'll be over in fifteen minutes. See you then!" Riku hung up the phone and started to gather up the things he would need for the rest of the night and the next morning. As he did this, he started to wonder what could be wrong with Kairi. He got a little worried when Kairi got offline without notice, and then Sora just told him that Kairi suddenly wanted a group sleep over at Sora's house, which they hadn't had in over a year. The anxiety was eating at him. Sora's mom didn't like Kairi sleeping over since she was a girl, and Riku's parents thought that they were too old for a sleep over, but Riku's parents are away on business, so they would never know, and Sora somehow convinced his mom to let Kairi sleep over.

Sighing, Riku shook his head as he finished packing his things and headed towards the door.

**xXx**

Sora laid back on his bed with his hands behind his head. He was pretty confused about everything Kairi said, but he didn't think much of it. Whatever was bothering her, he would find out soon enough, and _then_ he could worry about it. Still, it wasn't like Kairi to do this. Just practically force Sora into letting everybody sleep over his house and then not telling him what was wrong. A bad feeling was creeping up in his stomach.

Several moments later there was a knock on his bedroom door. Sora sat up and propped himself up on his elbow. "Come on in, Riku...or Kairi or Mom or some weird random stalker dude! Actually, if you're some weird random stalker dude then stay out, but if you are any of the others, come on in."

The door opened, and in walked a silver-haired teenager. "Yeah, I'm sure that would stop that freaky stalker dude from coming in."

Sora swung his legs around to the side of his bed and stood up. "It's not _freaky _stalker dude, Riku! It's _weird, random _stalker dude. Although, freaky would be a good adjective for a stalker dude" He stroked his chin as if he was deep in thought.

"Yeah, whatever," Riku laughed, putting his stuff down next to Sora's dresser. "So, Kairi's not here, yet?"

Sora lowered his hand and shook his head.

"I wonder what's wrong."

Sora shook his head again. "I don't know. She wouldn't tell me anything. She just asked if we could have a sleep over. And she sounded weird. Like she was hyperventilating or something."

Riku sat down on Sora's bed. "Well, we'll find out soon enough." He smirked. "Now, what do you say we make fish smoothies tonight."

**xXx**

Meanwhile, Kairi was getting her stuff ready back at her house, but she was having some trouble since she was still pretty shaken up from before. She kept telling herself that it was just some sick joke, but she couldn't get it off her mind. She was beginning to become paranoid. It was only one phone call and an IM, but she was already looking over her shoulder as if waiting for someone to attack her. How was she supposed to make it through the night in this condition?

Kairi wasn't sure what to think of any of this. Whether to do something about it or ignore it. Whether to take it lightly and act like it never happened or tell someone else. What if she was overreacting and this was all some sick, sadistic joke? Or what if this person really had it out for her? But where was she to start? She didn't even have an idea of who it could be.

As soon as she got done packing, she heard the phone ring downstairs. Picking up her bag of stuff, she ran downstairs to the kitchen.

She wasn't sure if she should answer the phone or not. But then she thought to herself, 'What if it's something important, or what if it's Riku or Sora?' Also, she already got one weird phone call. What harm could another one do? So she gathered up her courage and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

The few seconds that she had to wait for someone to answer seemed like an eternity.

"Hey, Kairi? What's taking you so long?" It was Sora. Kairi almost fainted from relief, but she figured that wouldn't help the situation at all.

"I just got done getting ready. I'll be over in a couple minutes."

"Alright. Are you sure you're okay? Do you need me or Riku to come over and walk you over here?"

"No, I'll be fine. Really." As much as she hated the idea of walking alone at night all the way over to Sora's, she didn't want to trouble either Riku or Sora. Plus, the sooner she was out of the otherwise vacant house, the better.

"Okay, I'll see you soon, then. Love you. Bye!" Then he realized what he had just said. "Oh my gosh! I'm sorry! I'm just used to saying that to my mom and stuff!"

Kairi laughed.

"Just forget this ever happened." Sora was turning bright red. Luckily, Kairi couldn't see him, and Riku was using the bathroom.

"Okay, Sora. I won't say a word." Yeah, right! Riku was definitely going to know about this. "Well, bye!"

"Bye!" Kairi hung up the phone and cracked up laughing at how panicked Sora had gotten for just saying 'Love you.".

Sora cheered her up so much that she almost forgot that she'd have to walk by herself at night after getting a threatening IM and a weird phone call. _Almost_. She still had to gather up all her courage just to leave her house, though.

She was fine most of the way. Of course, she was frightened out of her mind, but she just kept telling herself that she'd be okay and to keep going. Besides there were other cars around, so it was not like some guy could just come and randomly jump her without someone seeing. That was until she reached the alley.

She forgot that she had to walk through the alley. Kairi hated walking through the alley in the middle of the daytime, nonetheless in this particular circumstance at ten o'clock at night. If she would've remembered then she would've accepted Sora's offer to walk her over. "I hate my life!" she mumbled, mentally slapping herself.

Then she heard someone else's voice behind her. "Kairi?"

**xXxXx**

**A/N: **Yay! Cliffie! Whose voice is it? Oooh.


	4. Stranger in the alley

.**xXxXx**

**Chapter 3 - Stranger in the Alley**

Sora and Riku sat in Sora's room, waiting for Kairi to come. Sora was sitting on his bed, and Riku was lying on the floor, using his bag as a pillow. Neither of them said anything for awhile. Finally, Riku, who couldn't stand the silence any longer, decided to say something. "So. . . . What should we do while we wait for Kairi?"

Sora thought for a second. "Play strip poker?" he suggested jokingly.

Riku looked at Sora and raised an eyebrow. "Tell me your joking. . . "

Sora grinned.

"Ugh! Be serious, you idiot!" Riku picked up Sora's teddy bear, which happened to be lying on the floor next to him, and threw it at Sora. (Yes, Sora has a teddy bear. Don't judge!)

Sora laughed, but then he became serious. "I'm worried about Kairi."

Riku looked down, taking a sudden intrest in his hands. "Me too."

**xXx**

Kairi literally jumped five feet into the air.

"Kairi?" Kairi heard the voice say her name again. "Kairi? Is that you?"

Suddenly, Kairi recognized the voice. "Wakka!?"

Kairi turned around, her heart still racing, to see the tall red-head step from the shadows into the light.

Wakka was grinning. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Kairi took a deep breath.

"WAKKA, YOU IDIOT! YOU SCARED ME OUTTA MY MIND!" She screamed hitting him over the head.

"Whoa, Kairi!" Wakka backed up and put one hand up defensively while rubbing his head with the other. "Sorry."

Wakka and Kairi were pretty close friends. She used to hang out with him on the island when they were kids, but they had grown closer as they had gotten older, for she hung out with him whenever Sora and Riku weren't around.

"So, what are you doing in this alley this late at night?" He looked a bit worried.

"You shouldn't be asking me that question. You're here too."

"It's more dangerous for a girl like you to be walking around here at night. What is some weird random stalker dude came out of the shadows and try to rape you or eat you or something." He waved his arms in the air for emphasis.

". . . .Well, thanks for the encouragement," she said sarcastically, "but I'm going to Sora's, and this is the best way to get there."

"You're going to Sora's? Well, I'm going to Tidus's to watch the blitzball tournament tonight, so I'm going that way anyway. At least let me walk you there." Grinning, he added, "As long as you don't hit me over the head again."

"Okay." Kairi tried not to look to excited, but she was exceptionally grateful that Wakka had come along, and that she did not have to continue the rest of the way alone.

The two started walking. Kairi smiled to herself. "You know you sounded too much like Sora when you said that thing about the "weird random stalker dude" thing.

"I don't know what you're talkilng about." They laughed and continued to walk towards Sora's house.

**xXx**

Sora and Riku ran down the stairs to see Sora's mom standing in the kitchen cooking dinner. "Hey, guys, is roast beef good for tonight?"

"Actually, we were going to go to McDonald's tonight. Sorry, Mom." Sora did feel bad that he wouldn't be here to eat his mom's dinner, but he was not about to give up McDonald's.

"So what are you guys doing down here?"

"We just wanted to get those fish smoothies that I made yesterday." Walking towards the refrigderator, Sora grinned

Sora's mom continued to make dinner even though she would be the only one eating. "You are really weird."

"Don't judge, Mom. Don't knock it till you try it. You always tell me that." Opening the refriderator, he pulled out the pitchers that the fish smoothies were in.

"Yeah, but I didn't mean try fish smoothies."

"Whatever," Sora said, pouring the smoothies into glasses. "Your loss. C'mon, Riku." With that Sora turned and sprinted back up the stairs.

"Thanks for letting me stay over," shouted Riku, running up the stairs after Sora.

"Any time, Riku. You're like a son to me."

"Oh, yeah, Mom, Kairi's staying over, too. She should be here any minute," Sora shouted, running up after him.

"You didn't tell your mom that Kairi was coming over?" Riku whispered when Sora caught up to him.

Sora just shrugged. "Telling her now is my best chance of her actually letting Kairi stay over. No harm done."

"What do you me--" His mom tried to say something back, but he was already upstairs.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and Sora's mother rolled her eyes. "I guess that must be her."

Shaking her head, she opened the door to see Kairi and Wakka. "Are you sleeping over too?" she asked him, hoping that Sora hadn't invited even more friends over.

"No I'm just walking Kairi over." He bowed to Sora's mother, before grinning at Kairi. "Well, bye Kairi." He turned around and started walking down the steps. "See you in school tomorrow!"

"Bye, Wakka! Thanks!" She waved to him and then turned back to Sora's mother. "Hello."

"Hello. Riku and Sora are upstairs," she said somewhat coldly. It didn't go unnoticed either.

"Um...thanks." With that she turned around and hurried up the stairs, not wanting to deal with the obviously unhappy mother in the kitchen.

**xXx**

Sora took a sip from his cup and gagged. "These are horrible."

"Yeah." Riku also took a sip, twisting his face up in a grimace afterwards. "Then why do we drink them?"

"That's just how we are, Riku." Sora started to chug his, but then he heard a knock on the door. "Come in!" he shouted wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Kairi opened the door to Riku and Sora staring at her. She put her bag down and sat down on the floor next to them. "Hey, guys. Oh, you're drinking those fish smoothies again? Could I have some?"

"Yeah." Riku handed his cup to Kairi, as he and Sora stared at her. She seemed fine now. "But wh--"

"So, Sora," Kairi interrupted, "What's up with your mom? She seemed particularly unhappy to see me."

Sora wasn't sure how to tell Kairi that his mom hated her. Besides, there was more important things to discuss. "Uh. . . .Never mind that. But you need to tell us why you wanted this sleep over in the first place. You sounded really bad on the phone."

Kairi looked down at the floor. She knew she had to tell them sometime. She was just thankful that her walk with Wakka had calmed her down enough that she wasn't still hyperventalating. "Well when I was in the chat room with you guys, I--"

But she was interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing.

**xXxXx**


	5. The Phone Calls

**A/N: **I was re-reading my last chapter, and I was really disappointed with it. Oh, well. The last chapter was a bit more light-hearted than the other ones so I had fun writing it. I'll try my hardest to make this chapter better than the last.

**xXxXx**

**Chapter 4 - The Phone Calls**

The phone continued to ring.

_One ring._

The three teens, Sora, Riku, and Kairi, sat on the floor looking at each other, waiting for somebody to do something.

_Two rings._

Everytime Kairi heard the phone ring, she could feel her heart skip a beat. She kept trying to reassure herself, saying that there was no way that this mysterious person that's been calling and IMing could know that she was at Sora's house. Still, she couldn't shake off the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

_Three rings._

Finally, Sora spoke up. "I guess I'm supposed to get that." He stood up and walked over to his night stand beside his bed where his phone was located. His hand hovered over the receiver for a second and then picked it up. "Hello?"

Kairi held her breath.

Sora was silent for a few moments. "Yeah, she's here." He nodded as if the person on the other side of the phone could see him. Then, he stuck the phone into Kairi's face. "It's your mom."

"Uh, thanks." She hesitated a moment before taking the phone from him and placing it to her ear. "Hey, Mom."

"Kairi, Dear?" Kairi heard loud music in the background. Knowing her mom, she was probably at some sort of club. "Kairi, Honey, are you at Sora's house with that Riku boy?"

"Yes, Mo--"

"You should really tell me these things. What if I came home, and you weren't there?" By the tone of her voice, Kairi could tell that her mom was not exactly excited that Kairi was sleeping over Sora's.

"It's not like your going to come home before three o'clock tomorrow afternoon, anyway," Kairi mumbled to herself.

"What did you say?!"

"It was nothi--" But she didn't have a chance to finish.

"Oh, and do you know what else Sora's mother told me? She said that you showed up at the door with an _unidentified_ boy!"

"Sora's mom told you that?" Kairi couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I only got here two minutes ago. How did you already talk to her about that?!"

Sora and Riku both looked up from their smoothies at the mention of Sora's mom.

"Well, she was very concerned about your behavior, but she shouldn't have to tell me these things. You should've already told me! Aren't you embarrassed?"

"What behavior? Mom, it was only Wakka! He was just walking me over! And under the circumstances, I couldn't--"

"I don't want to hear it! You could have at least called!" By now she was yelling.

Kairi's eyes started to tear up. "WELL, MAYBE I WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE TO COME OVER IF YOU WERE EVER HOME WHEN I NEEDED YOU!"

Now she had Sora and Riku's total attention.

Kairi was sobbing now. It was a usual conversation with her mother, but she was more upset than usual because of the previous circumstances of that night.

There were a few moments of silence. "Don't talk to me tha--" But before her mother could even finish her sentence, Kairi threw the phone back onto the receiver. The boys were speechless. Now Kairi was boiling mad and she was crying uncontrollably, but she didn't even have time to think about that because as soon as she slammed the phone down, it began to ring again.

She picked it up, but she didn't ever bother putting it to her ear this time. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, MOM!" Once again, she slammed the phone back onto the receiver.

But as she turned around to face Sora and Riku, something dawned on her: It couldn't have been her mother.

The timing was all wrong. It rang as soon as she hung it up. But her mom couldn't have called back that quickly. It must've been someone else. Now Kairi's bad feeling was back. With tears still running down her cheeks, she picked up the phone and pressed the caller I.D. button. Her mother's number was listed, but the last person that called was listed as 'private number.'

So it wasn't her mother that she just screamed at, after all. Then, it could have been... Kairi smacked herself in the head. "_No, Kairi. You can't think this way!" _She thought to herself. "_It was probably just someone calling for Sora." _But through her tears and her fear, she couldn't even believe herself.

She placed the phone down. Once again, it started ringing right away. Looking at the caller I.D., she saw that it was Mr. Private Number, again. Kairi didn't want to pick it up, but she had to know. She took a deep breath. "Hello?"

She heard nothing but silence.

"Hello . . . . . . Please answer me!"

Silence.

"Who are you and why are you doing this?" she said, trying not to allow her voice to crack, whispering so Sora and Riku couldn't hear.

Kairi started sobbing, unable to control herself anymore. "WHY!?" She heard a _click. _Apparently she scared the caller away.

Now she was sobbing loudly and uncontrollably, not caring that Sora and Riku were sitting right in front of her. She fell to her knees. "_Why are they doing this to me!? What did I do!?"_

Sora crawled over to her, confused and even more worried than before. Riku followed, but he stayed back a little more, not sure what to do. Kairi was scaring him.

Putting his arm around her shoulder, Sora said, "I think it's about time you tell us what's going on."

**xXxXx**

**A/N: **Ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.


	6. The REAL Chapter 5

**xXxXx**

**Chapter 5 The REAL Chapter 5**

Kairi, I think it's time you tell us what's going on. Sora could feel Kairi's shoulders racking with sobs underneath his arm.

Both Riku and Sora were taken aback by Kairi's reaction. Nothing like this had happened before. They knew that she had some problems with her mother, but she never talked about it, and if she was ever upset about it, she didn't let them know. So what was going on now?

Sora gave Riku one of his what-should-we-do-now looks, and Riku responded with an I-have-no-clue look.

Kairi's sobs had quieted down, but tears were still streaming down her face, and it seemed like she could break out into more sobs any second. "I'm sorry, guys. This isn't much of a sleepover." She was trying to keep her voice from cracking.

Sora still had no idea what to say. If he said that everything is okay, and that she's not ruining anything, it would sound fake and cliche. But if he agreed with her . . . Well, obviously that was a bad idea.

Just then, Riku stood up in front of Kairi. After shooting Sora a look, he looked Kairi right in the eye. "It's okay, Kairi. you obviously didn't want this sleepover for our sake. But, dispite that, we're still here for you. So, why don't you get up and tell us what's wrong."

Sora, finding it strange that Riku of all people came through this time, started to stand up and join him. "Yeah, come on, Kairi." Now fully standing next to Riku, he smiled at Riku, for giving him new found confidence, and then turned back to Kairi. He thrust his hand out towards Kairi to help her up.

Kairi just stared at his hand for a few moments, but then took it and slowly started to get up.

Once she stood up, Sora let go of her hand, as both he and Riku waited for her reaction.

Looking down, Kairi avoided eye contact, but she gave them a small nod. "Well . . . I--" But before she could finish even one sentence, the phone rang . . . again.

Kairi's voice got caught in her throat. She had stopped crying, but she suddenly felt like bursting into tears again. How long was she going to live like this? Fearing the ring of the telephone. Looking over her shoulder every seconds. Jumping at even the slightest little noise she hears. It hasn't even been one night since the first IM and she was already sick of it.

Sora noticed the look of fear on Kairi's face, which concerned him even more. "I'll get it," he said, walking over to the phone and checking the caller ID. "It's Wakka's cell phone."

Realizing that she had been holding her breath, Kairi let out a sigh of relief, which caused Riku to raise an eyebrow at her, as Sora picked up the phone and pressed it to his ear. "Hey."

"Hey, Man. It's Wakka."

"What's up?"

"Well, me, Selphie, and Tidus are gonna go to McDonalds now. You wanna come?"

Sora looked over at Kairi. Her eyes and nose were red and swollen, and her face was wet from tears. The look of anxiety was plastered all over her face. Even though he and Riku had originally planned on bringing Kairi to McDonalds, Sora was pretty sure that would be a bad idea now. "Uh . . . Wakka, I don't think that McDondalds is a good idea right--"

But before he could finish, Kairi interrupted him. "No! Let's go to McDonalds!" In fact, McDonalds sounded like a great idea right now. There would be more people around, and she could forget about the whole thing, even if just for an hour or so. She didn't know why she dreaded telling Sora and Riku about what happened that night, but she did. Maybe it was because she didn't want to relive it, but either way, she just didn't want to. And best of all, there was no phone in McDonalds..

"Hold on, Wakka." Shaking his head, Sora covered the mouthpiece with his palm and turned to Kairi. "Kairi, you look horrible." Right after he said it, Sora realized the pure tactlessness in that statement. "Um . . .I--I didn't mean it like that," he said mentally smaking himself in the forehead. "But in the condition you're in, you shouldn't be going anywhere."

Kairi knew he was right, but she wasn't about to give up on this arguement. "Does it look like I care, Sora? I just need to get out of here. I'll wash my face, and no one will be able to tell the difference."

Unable to come up with a legitimate argument, he rolled his eyes, but nodded. He assumed that saying something like, 'But I want to know what's going on,' wouldn't work on Kairi. Putting the earpiece to his ear again, he said, "Wakka? . . . Yeah, I guess we'll come." There was reluctance in his voice, but Kairi knew that she had won. "See you in fifteen minutes." As he hung up, he started walking towards the door. "I'll go get a wet washcloth for you, Kairi." When he passed Riku, he shrugged and whispered, "Looks like we're going to McDonalds."

**xXxXx**


	7. McDonalds

**xXxXx **

**Chapter 6 – McDonalds **

Sora, Riku, and Kairi walked towards the local McDonalds in silence, as Kairi prayed that her companions wouldn't say anything about the previous events that had taken place at Sora's house earlier that evening.

They didn't.

There was a silence between the three teenagers. And although it was an extremely awkward silence, none of them wanted to be the one to break it. They all avoided eye contact with each other. Once in a while, Sora and Riku would exchange glances, but that was the only communication between the friends as they continued to walk down the dark street, only lit up by the occasional passing car and the streetlights that lined the paved sidewalks.

Sora looked over at Kairi. Walking with her head down, she still had a tint of anxiety on her face. But Kairi had been right when she said that no one would be able to tell that she had been crying after she calmed down and washed her face. She looked totally normal, despite the fact that five minutes ago she looked like a total mess.

The three of them had yet to say anything by the time they reached McDonalds, ten minutes later. That was until they were opening the door, and Sora finally broke the silence. "I'll get the food, Guys. On me. What do you what?"

Kairi felt bad making Sora pay, but she didn't have much choice. Since other things were, obviously, on her mind when they left the house, she forgot to bring any of her own money. Oh, well, she could pay him back later. "Uh . . . Just an Oreo McFlurry."

Riku, also not wanting to make Sora pay, took out three dollar bills from his pocket and handed them to Sora. "Just get me a root beer and something from the dollar menu." With that, he and Kairi started walking toward the back of the restaurant.

Sora just shrugged and got in line, since, before he could argue, they were already around the corner and out of sight.

**xXx **

A tray of food in hand, Sora walked towards the back of the restaurant. When he turned the corner into the seating area, he saw that Riku and Kairi had found Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie, who were already there with their food. As Sora got closer, he noticed that Riku was not there. "Hey! Where's Riku?"

"Bathroom," Wakka answered.

"Oh." Sora slid into the booth next to Kairi, handing her the McFlurry. "I got him one of those fruit and yogurt parfait things."

Selphie sighed. "You're terrible, Sora!"

"What did I do?"

"You know he's got that irrational fear of strawberries."

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that." Laughing to himself, he placed the parfait in the spot next to him where Riku would be sitting. "Oh well." Grinning innocently, he shrugged and turned to his own food.

Rolling her eyes, Kairi reached over Sora to take the parfait and put the McFlurry in Riku's spot instead. "Just let me take it. As strange as it is that he's scared of strawberries, he'll freak out if he sees this. And we all know that that won't be pretty. You remember the last time, don't you?"

Sora stopped chewing on his fries and his eyes got wide as he remembered the last time Riku had come in contact with strawberries. "Oh yeah. I had forgotten about that."

Just then, Riku walked out of the bathroom and over to the booth at which they were sitting. He opened his mouth to say something as he took his seat next to Sora, but before he could, he noticed the McFlurry on the table in front of him.

Tidus, who noticed him also eyeing the fruit and yogurt parfait suspiciously, said, "Don't ask, Man. Some things are better left unsaid."

After eyeing the strawberries in the parfait a bit longer, Riku glared at Sora, and then turned back to the McFlurry, which was now in his possession.

The six friends ate in silence for a couple of minutes. Well, except Riku, whose McFlurry was just sitting there melting. He couldn't get his mind off the strawberries that were sitting only a few feet away from him . . . Staring at him. At least in _his _mind, anyway.

Wakka was the first to speak. "So what were you guys doing over at Sora's?"

Riku would've shot a concerned look at Kairi if he wasn't too distracted by a certain fruit that we don't need to mention, so Sora had to do so instead. "Um . . . Not much. Talked some. Had fish smoothies."

Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka all wrinkled their noses at the mention of Sora's infamous 'fish smoothies.' But Wakka continued. "Yeah, if Riku wasn't there I'd be a little worried about what you two would do together," he said to Sora and Kairi, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Both Sora and Kairi almost spit out their food. Sora felt himself blush, knowing _exactly_ what Wakka was implying and Kairi put her head down on the table in embarrassment.

The rest of them laughed. Even Riku, although he had no idea what he was laughing at due to his intense focus on another 'unnamed' object.

Even though Sora and Kairi were ready to kill him, because Wakka had broken the ice, the rest of the time spent in McDonalds was filled with laughter and happiness and joy . . . Yeah, you get the idea. Well, except for Riku. But I don't think I need to get into that.

**xXx**

Riku, Sora, and Kairi had started walking home. Even though they were going the same way as Wakka and Tidus, Sora asked if he and Riku could have some time alone with Kairi. Sora wanted to talk to Kairi about what had happened earlier that night at his house, obviously. "So, Kairi—"

But before he could even begin, he noticed Kairi looking up at the sky. "The stars remind me of when I first came here," she said. "When I first met you guys."

Sora looked up at the sky also. Well, he couldn't bring it up now. But at least Kairi looked happy for once tonight. He smiled and looked over at Riku who was also looking up to the sky.

It almost seemed like the perfect moment. That is until they heard a scream.

**xXxXx**

**A/N: **If you do happen to review, could you tell me if you think I should add any SoraxKairi or RikuxKairi into this? It wouldn't be really big or anything, but I've had a couple people ask me about it, so I just wanted some other opinions.


	8. The Scream

**A/N: **Thank you to my faithful reviewers.

**xXxXx**

**Chapter Seven - The Scream**

As the cold night air caused goosebumps to rise on their exposed skin, Riku, Sora, and Kairi sprinted in the direction from which they heard the scream come. After a few seconds, they came across none other than Selphie, who now had a frightened look on her face.

Sora was the first to reach her. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he bent over to catch his breath. Once his breathing was under control, he straightened up and turned his attention to Selphie. "Selphie, what's wrong? Were you the one who sreamed?!"

Breathing heavily, she seemed to be trying to calm herself down. "I-it's no big deal. Someone just ran into me and then--and then ran across the sreet. I-it just startled me."

Sora nodded accepting the answer, but Kairi, who, along with Riku, had heard the whole thing, wasn't so sure. "Riku, Sora, go on without me. I need to talk to Selphie."

"But we can't leave you to walk back to my house by yourself," Sora said, obviously wanting her to come back with him and Riku.

Kairi thought about it for a second. He had a point. She wasn't all that eager to walk anywhere by herself at the moment, either.

But before Kairi could think of an answer, Selphie stepped in, totally forgetting about the previous incident. "If she wants, she can stay the night at my house. I'm sure my mom won't mind."

With that said, Kairi smiled. Not only was she happy that she could talk to Selphie in private, but she was also happy that she wouldn't have to explain herself to Sora and Riku just yet. In fact, happy was an understatement.

The two boys didn't look as estatic as Kairi, but they didn't really have much choice. "Well, I guess we'll see you later, Kairi."

Still beaming, Kairi waved. "Yeah, bye!"

Noticing the extreme difference in emotions, Selphie was slightly confused, but she didn't really think anthing of it. She just figured that Sora and Riku were upset about leaving their beloved Kairi. Kairi was creeping her out a bit, though.

While watching Sora and Riku walk away, Kairi felt bad for blowing them off like that, but she couldn't pass this chance up.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Selphie asked, interrupting Kairi's thoughts.

Turning away from Riku and Sora, who were nearly out of sight already, Kairi pivoted to fact Selphie. She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jeans and turned her head away, unable to look Selphie in the eye for some reason. "I'll tell you when we get to your house."

Without question, Selphie nodded as the two started walking towards Selphie's house, through the shadows that were projected on the sidewalk at their feet.

**xXx**

After opening the door, Selphie cheerfully skipped through the front door. "MOM! I'M HOOOME!" she shouted in at sing-song voice.

Selphie's mom walked out of the kitchen, drying her hands with a dishrag, obviously just getting done with the dishes. Her long red heir was pulled back into a bun with a bandana over top. She seemed surprised to see Kairi, but she smiled at her anyway. "Hi."

"Mom, is it alright if Kairi spends the night here. It's kind of important."

"Of course." A concerned look came over her face. "What's wrong?"

Selphie glanced over at Kairi and then back to her mom. "Nothing. Just schoolwork."

"Okay." To Kairi's relief, she nodded, seeming to accept that answer. She smiled again and then walked back into the kitchen. Kairi watched as she started to get out a washcloth. She remembered how she used to stay over Selphie's house all the time when she was little, considering her mom was always out and she was too young to stay home by herself. Selphie always welcomed her, though it had been a while since she had been there.

Whenever Kairi saw Selphie and her mom togethe, it reminded Kairi of what she didn't have with her own mom. Selphie and her mom were always laughing and joking and getting along, while Kairi couldn't remember the last time that she even spent time with her mother, none the less joked with her or even talked with her without arguing. Kairi couldn't help but feel a little resentment towards Selphie, even though she knew it wasn't Selphie's fault that her mother was more understanding than her own.

"Are you coming or what?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Kairi looked over towards the stairs to see that Selphie was already halfway up, looking down and waiting for her.

"Oh, yeah," was all she said before she turned to follow Selphie up the stairs.

**xXx**

Sora was lying on his bed, looking at the ceiling. Rolling over, he faced Riku who was sitting on the top of Sora's bureau, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

Riku noticed that Sora didn't exactly look happy. "Disappointed?"

Shrugging, Sora placed his hands behind his head and rolled back over to face the ceiling again.

Riku shook his head. "She didn't want to tell us. There's nothing we could do about it."

"I know. But I'm still curious . . . and worried.

Riku was silent for a few moments. "Yeah, me too."

**xXx**

"So are you ready to talk about whatever it was you wanted to talk about?" Selphie asked, closing the door behind her once they were in her room.

Kairi looked down. She knew that she couldn't just not tell Selphie after practically begging her to let her stay over. But she wasn't all that eager to tell her either.

Sensing Kairi's hesitation, Selphie was quick to say something. "It's okay. You don't have to talk about it now. How about we go on my computer? We can talk to people on AIM.

It didn't sould like all that much fun to Kairi at the moment. In fact, the longer she waited to tell Selphie, the more the tension built up in her chest. It was getting to be too much for her to handle. Still, she felt safer with Selphie than by herself and so far she hadn't gotten any weird phone calls there, so she couldn't complain.

Following Selphie, Kairi walked over to the computer desk in the corner of the room and sat down in a chair next to her. "Am I really that predictable?"

Selphie didn't answer, as she logged into her screenname. After a couple of seconds, her buddy list popped up onto the screen. Right away, the IM catcher came up saying that 'way2sexy7' sent her an IM. Selphie accepted it.

way2sexy7: hey. its riku and sora. did u get home safe?

sugarhappy84: yeah. kairi is right here

Before Riku could type anything else, the IM catcher popped up again. Kairi's breath got caught in her throat when he saw the screenname: justchillen69.

Just as Selphie was about to accept it, Kairi practically jumped up from her chair. "No! Wait!"

Letting go of the mouse, Selphie stared at Kairi, concerned. "What is it?"

At this point, Kairi was wishing that she had kept her big mouth shut. But her outburst had just been a reflex. She did it without thinking. Sitting back down, Kairi sweatdropped. "Um . . . I mean . . . Do you know who it it?

Looking at Kairi with skepitcle eyes, Selphie nodded slowly.

Kairi almost jumped out of her seat again, but she forced herself to remain calm. "W-who i-is it?" she asked stuttering.

"It's Tidus's other screenname."

**xXxXx**


	9. Confessions

**A/N: **I haven't been getting any inspiration lately. T.T

**xXxXx**

**Chapter Eight - Confessions**

"Tidus's screenname?! I-It's Tidus's screenname?!"

Selphie nodded slowly, looking perplexed. "Why?"

Kairi didn't answer. So many thought's were running through her mind that she couldn't make sense of any of them. "That can't be. I just saw him," she whispered to herself.

Raising her eyebrow, Selphie became even more confused. "What are you talking about?"

Jerking her head to the side, Kairi snapped out of her trance-like state. "Nothing. Just . . ." She hesitated a moment, trying to figure out what she should say next. "Are you sure it's him?"

Still puzzled, Selphie tilted her head to the side. "Of course. Why wouldn't it be? Do you want me to IM him for you?"

"No. Wait!"

But before Kairi could tell her otherwise, Selphie had already turned to her computer and, in a matter of seconds, was sending him a message.

Kairi mentally slapped herself, figuring that hitting her head against the desk really hard several times would be too obvious.

Sugarhappy84: hey, tidus! its selphie and kairi

Justchillen69: yo. wats up?

Sugarhappy84: just hanging out. u?

Justchillen69: same

Selphie swivled her chair to face Kairi again. Either she didn't notice Kairi's I-could-kill-you-right-now glare, or she chose to ignore it. "See? Why did you want to know?"

Knowing that right then was as good a time as any, Kairi took a deep breath and prepared to tell Selphie what had happened earlier that night. "Well, it all started when I was in this chatroom with Riku and Sora . . ." She opted to keep her conversation with them out of it and cut right to the IM and phone calls at her house and Sora's house. She also left out that the screenname was Tidus's, saving it until the end, because she knew Selphie would jump to conclusions if she told her right away.

It was easier telling Selphie than she thought it would be. The words came flooding out, almost as if she was telling her about a movie that had nothing to do with her life.

The whole time, Selphie remained silent and showed ablsolutely no facial expression. Kairi had no idea what could've been going through Selphie's head at the moment and it made her apprehensive, but it was too late to turn back now.

She ended her story by revealing the screenname, and it was at this time that Selphie finally showed emotion. It was a mixture of surprise, horror, and, most aggravating of all, doubt.

"That's horrible. And you have a right to be upset. But I was online at the time you and Riku and Sora were and Tidus wasn't on."

Kairi was now becoming annoyed. "Maybe you just didn't notice."

Biting her lip, Selphie shook her head. "No, I'm pretty sure I would have."

Now, boiling with anger, Kairi stood up, almost knocking her chair over. "Look, I don't know why you're so intent on sticking up for him, but I'm pretty sure I'd remember the screenname that threatened me over the internet and freaked me out enough to send me running over to Sora's house. If you're not going to listen to me, then I'll figure this out on my own." She started walking to the door with the full intention of leaving, but Selphie stopped her.

"I'm sorry, Kairi. How about I look at his stats to see at what times he's been online today?"

Kairi sighed, still upset, but unable to argue with her apology. Plus, once Selphie looked up his stats, she would be proven right. Walking back over towards her seat, she waited for Selphie to finish.

A few moments later, Selphie let go of the mouse and turned to face Kairi with a sorrowful look on her face. "Kairi, I'm sorry, but it says right here that this is his first time online all day. You can come look if you want to."

Dumbfounded, Kairi leaned over and looked at the computer screen. Sure enough Selphie was right. Kairi's anger faded and left only confusion. "But . . . Then who . . .?

She was unable to form a complete sentence, not sure what to ask. She knew that it was that screenname that had instant messaged her earlier. She would never forget that. But then how could it have been his first time online? And what about the phone calls? And why _was_ Selphie so intent on defending Tidus. Well, you'll just have to find out in the next chapter.

**xXxXx**

**A/N: **I know it's a reeeaaalllyy short chapter, but I'm bushed, and I've got an English essay to write. Thanks for reading and goodnight.


	10. Realizations

**A/N: **Finally the real chapter nine! Thank you to those who reviewed last chapter. I really appreciate it. It's the only thing that keeps me going. As I type this, I'm almost finished with the chapter in the notebook. And I'm gonna try to make this a good chapter because I really didn't like the last couple of chapters. Anyway, here's the next chapter of Deadly IM!

**xXxXx**

**Chapter Nine - Realizations**

Kairi had her head down on Selphie's computer desk, her auburn hair sprawled out over her arms and the desk. No matter how hard she tried, she could not make sense of the thoughts that were swimming through her mind. She figured that any moment, her brain would burst right along with her sanity. Even so, it would probably be for the better. She could live in room with white walls, with no phones or computers or contact to the outside world. She could be free from this curse. Free from herself.

As Kairi fantasized, Selphie watched her from the corner of her eye, concerned. She wasn't sure what was going through Kairi's head. Perhaps she had just totally snapped. "Kairi, are you okay?"

The only response Kairi gave was an almost inaudible groan, before turning her head to face Selphie, but she did not look at her directly nor give her a straight answer.

"Kairi!" Selphie reached over and shook her friend lightly.

"Hm?" Kairi's head shot up, but then it drifted back down to rest on her forearms. "I'm sorry, Selphie, but I don't want to think about anything right now. I just want to go to sleep and not worry about what tomorrow will bring." She sat up completely and turned to Selphie, waiting for an answer.

In response, Selphie nodded and, without even bothering to close her AIM window, stood up, smoothing her skirt with the palms of her hands. "Alright. You can sleep in my bed. I'll get my sleeping bag."

Kairi felt bad about forcing Selphie to sleep in the sleeping bag, but she wasn't about to argue, for she didn't exactly feel like spending the night on an unfamiliar floor. "Juschillen69," she whispered, shaking her head, while climbing into Selphie's bed, underneath the yellow floral-printed comforter.

Selphie, who was on her way to retrieve her sleeping bag from her basement, stopped in her tracks as her ears perked up. Pivoting to face Kairi, she had a look of perplexity on her face. "What did you just say?"

Kairi, who was now curled up under Selphie's covers and ready to go to sleep, shot a look of confusion right back. "I-it was nothing . . . Why?"

Shaking her head, Selphie totally dismissed Kairi's question. "Just . . . Repeat what you said."

This left Kairi even more puzzled, but, hesitantly, she complied. "Um . . . Juschillen69?"

Raising an eyebrow, Selphie cocked her head to the side. "You said _jus_chillen69?"

"Right." Kairi nodded her head, slowly, still completely perplexed.

Crossing her arms, Selphie tapped her foot and rolled her eyes upward, as if in deep thought. "But Tidus's screen name is _just_chillen69."

Finally understanding what Selphie was getting at, Kairi shot up from underneath the covers with her eyes wide. "That means . . . They're . . ."

"Different," Selphie finished for her, nodding. "Which means . . . "

"That someone is trying to set Tidus up, or they're trying to throw us off." Kairi couldn't believe it.

Realizing something else, Kairi looked to Selphie with a pleading look in her eyes. She remembered how she flipped out on Selphie earlier for defending Tidus. "I'm sorry, Selphie. I got mad at you earlier, but you were right, and I was just being hard-headed."

After crossing the small room to get to her bed, Selphie gently sat down on the edge. "It's okay, Kai. You're going through a lot right now. Plus, I was being a bit closed-minded."

Kairi didn't say anything in response. After sitting in silence for a few seconds, Selphie stood up and went to finish her original task. "Well, better get that sleeping bag," she said, heading for the door.

Nodding, Kairi laid back down. She still wasn't sure what to think, but one thing was for sure: She was much less confused. Still, it left her no idea who could have sent her the instant message. At least when she thought it was Tidus, she could have confronted him about it or tried to avoid him. Now all she had left to do was constantly look over her shoulder. No leads. No suspects. Just paranoia.

Suddenly a though occurred to her. _What if it was Selphie?! What if Selphie had been the one who sent the instant message? What if she was the one who made the phone calls? Could I be sharing a room with the very one who was out to get me?!_

Obviously, the paranoia was getting the better of her.

Just then, Selphie walked back in, carrying a big bundle, obviously her sleeping bag in her arms. "Sorry I took so long. Didn't think it would be so hard to find this thing." she knelt down and started to clear a spot for her sleeping bag. There wasn't much space so it was difficult, but she managed.

The whole time, Kairi watched her out of the corner of her eye, suspiciously. She knew she was being paranoid, but she couldn't help herself.

Selphie stopped what she was doing and glanced at Kairi. "Something wrong?"

Kairi mentally slapped herself for being so obvious. Before she could say anything to defend herself, however, the phone rang.

The lump in Kairi's throat returned, and the knot in her stomach grew. She was almost getting used to the feeling. It was becoming a regular thing for her. What she couldn't take was the sound of the phone ringing. Taking a pillow and covering her head with it, Kairi tried to block out the sound. "Selphie, may I please throw that thing out the window!?" came a muffled voice from beneath the pillow.

Shaking her head, Selphie crawled over to the phone. "No, I don't think that would be a good idea."

"I think it'd be a great idea," Kairi mumbled to herself.

Blatantly ignoring Kairi's last remark, Selphie leaned over to read the caller I.D. "Private Name," she read.

Kairi sighed as she sank deeper into the sheets, for she knew just who 'Private Name' was. "Please! Don't answer it. Please Selph! At least let me fantasize that the call is for you not me."

Selphie put her hand on the phone as if she was about to pick it up. "_Come on, _Kairi! Don't you think you're overreacting a _teensy _bit. Besides how could the caller possibly know you're at my house?"

"He knew I was at Sora's house," Kairi stated bluntly, still hiding underneath the pillow.

"Well . . ." Selphie opened her mouth to argue, but closed it again, unable to find a legitimate argument. "Well . . . That just could've been a guess. You hang out with him a lot more than me. Anyway, what if it _is _someone calling for _me_?!"

Finally removing the pillow from her head and allowing herself to breathe, Kairi turned over and glanced at the clock, which hung above the foot of Selphie's bed. It's eleven thirty at night! Who in their right mind would call at eleven thirty at night!?"

Before Selphie could come up with a response, the phone stopped ringing. Both of them stared at it, as the knot in Kairi's stomach came undone, and she sighed in relief. She had prolonged the argument with Selphie long enough for the phone to stop ringing. Mission accomplished! But Kairi's miniature celebration was cut short when the phone started ringing again a few seconds later. Kairi groaned and reached for her pillow, but decided against smothering herself again, for she wasn't sure her lungs could take it.

Fed up with arguing, Selphie shook her head. "I'm answering it." She grabbed the phone off the hook and put it to her ear before Kairi could say anything else. "Hell . . . o?" With yet another confused look on her face, Selphie took the phone off her ear and slowly returned it to where it belonged. She remained in that position, staring at the phone. "They hung up on me as soon as I started to talk."

"I told you," said Kairi. She sighed. She was already bushed from the previous events of the evening, but arguing with Selphie and willing the phone to stop ringing was exasperating. At this point, she was too fed up and tired to even be scared anymore.

Selphie tried to reason with her. "Well, at least we know now that it wasn't for me."

"I didn't want to know that!" Now, Kairi was being stubborn.

"Well, it stopped ringing at least." Taking her hand off the phone, Selphie smiled at Kairi desperately. Unfortunately, just as she removed her hand, the phone started ringing once again. The noise caused Selphie to jump back in surprise.

This time the constant ringing was too much for Kairi to bear, and she was forced to try and block the sound with Selphie's pillow again. It didn't work. "Ugh! Selphie! You jinxed it!"

It's not my fault. They're probably going to keep calling until _you _answer it."

"Well, you should have thrown it out the window when you had the chance. Actually, we still can." Throwing the pillow to the other side of the bed, Kairi sat up and reached for the phone to throw it out Selphie's open window, which was located directly next to the bed.

Selphie put her hand back on the phone, knowing that Kairi was completely serious. "I'm serious, Kairi. I don't mind the ringing. I'll get used to it. You're the one who's going to be haunted by it."

Sighing, Kairi knew Selphie was right. "Fine." She kneeled on the floor and reached for the phone, this time to answer it, but Selphie was prepared to grab it in case Kairi hadn't let go of her let's-throw-Selphie's-phone-out-the-window idea.

Thankfully, Kairi had forgotten all about throwing the phone. Her stomach was churning and she felt dizzy, but she hardly noticed. She was just focused on what would happen when she answered it.

" . . . " Although she picked up the phone and pressed it to her ear, she did not say anything. The person on the other line didn't hang up like they did with Selphie nor did they say anything. As usual, all Kairi heard was the raspy breath she had come to be familiar with. Kairi just breathed right back. She was determined not to hang up this time.

Selphie just watched wondering what was going on between Kairi and the mystery caller.

It went on like this for another five minutes. Finally, unable to take it any longer, Kairi whispered, "Asshole," and slammed the phone down.

Selphie gasped. "Kairi, you never talk like that!"

"Well, nothing like this has ever happened to me before," she said, frustrated. It was true. This experience was making Kairi feel things she had never felt before and say things that she wouldn't have said otherwise. "Oh, I just wish this whole thing was ov-" but before she finished, she caught herself. She didn't wish it was over. Because who knew how it would end? For all she knew, she could end up hurt, or even dead. "I mean, that this night never happened."

Sighing, Selphie shook her head. "Well, I can't help you there. But I'll do whatever I can to help."

"Thanks, Selph." Smiling softly, Kairi silently apologized to Selphie for being suspicious of her earlier. She figured that if she said it out loud, it wouldn't go over too well with Selphie. And she didn't want to make Selphie upset since, right now, Selphie was the only one Kairi could come to for help. Standing up and sitting back down on the edge of Selphie's bed, Kairi contemplated the current situation. Curling her leg so she could sit on her foot, she looked down at Selphie's comforter. "So far, the only people I've eliminated as suspects are Riku, Sora, and you. For all I know, it could be anyone else in the school or some stalker from Myspace!" Sighing exasperatedly, she threw her arms in the air at how hopeless the whole situation sounded.

Selphie siliently agreed it looked hopeless. "That's it. You don't have any other leads. Not even a guess?"

Suddenly, something dawned on Kairi, as she remembered the whole reason she wanted to talk to Selphie in the first place. Adverting her eyes from Selphie's bed, the looked to Selphie and pointed a finger at her. "You know, the thing I wanted to talk to you about earlier was what had happened before you screamed outside of McDonalds." Selphie's face went white and her breath caught in her throat, but Kairi continued. "You said that someone ran into you and then ran across the street, right?"

Selphie nodded, but didn't look Kairi in the eye.

Leaning forward, Kairi smirked. "But I know you well enough to know when you're lying. Now, can you tell me what really happened?"

The color was returning to Selphie's face, but her breathing was strained and she still wouldn't look Kairi in the eye. "I-I wasn't _lying_, per se, but . . . I didn't tell the whole truth." Without saying anything else, she stood up and walked over towards the door where her jacket was hanging on the doorknob. "Before they ran off, they handed me this." Kairi watched as Selphie pulled out what looked like a yellow sticky note. After making her way back across the room slowly, Selphie handed it to Kairi with a grave look on her face.

As Kairi read it, her eyes got wide and the color drained from her face. "Tell Kairi she's as good as dead," she read, quietly. Eyes still wide, she looked up at Selphie. "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier!?" she practically shouted.

Selphie shrugged, innocently. "I didn't think about it!"

"How could you forget about this!?"

"I had a lot of other stuff to think about with you and the phone call. And could you quiet down? You're going to wake up my mom."

Just then, as if by magic, Selphie's mom knocked on the door. "Girls, are you still awake? It's almost midnight. You know you have school tomorrow."

"Uh . . . Yeah, Mom. We were just about to get some sleep."

Kairi was surprised at how easily Selphie could lie to her mom, considering she wasn't one to lie to her friends often.

"Okay, well, get some sleep, please." With that, the two girls heard her footsteps walking away.

Selphie sighed. "She's right. It's been a long night for you. Why don't we get to sleep?"

"Yeah, you're right." Kairi almost forgot how tired she was, and, even though she knew she would get no sleep that night, the sound of sleeping in a warm, comfortable bed sounded comforting. "Could we leave the light on?" she asked, curling up, once again, underneath the sheets, facing the open window.

Without asking questions, Selphie laid down in her sleeping bag, facing the door. "Yup."

"Thanks."

The two girls laid there silently for a few minutes. Kairi figured that Selphie had gone to sleep, but then she heard her speak. "Can I ask you something, Kairi?"

"Okay," Kairi said, hesitantly, still facing the wall.

"Well, I was just wondering, since this isn't the first time you've gotten the phone call, then how come you didn't just answer it. It's no different than the other times. I mean, I understand being scared, but you seemed totally desperate."

Still unmoving, Kairi pondered this for a moment. "Well, this call confirmed what I was afraid of the most."

"What was that?"

"Now I know that, instead of just trying to scare me," she said, as her voice almost cracked, "this person is stalking me."

Selphie said nothing else, and, since Kairi was facing the opposite direction, she couldn't see her reaction. A few more minutes passed, and Kairi could tell that Selphie was definitely asleep this time from her heavy breathing.

The only thought running through Kairi's head was that someone could be watching her from a tree outside of Selphie's window. Or they could be waiting until she's asleep to come in and attack her. The worst part of it all was that the next day was school, and Kairi wasn't sure if that was a blessing or a curse.

**xXxXx**

**A/N: **Wow! That was the longest chapter I've ever written for this story. Oh, well. That's good right? Or do you people like reading my pathetically short chapters.


	11. Mr McHugh

**A/N: **This chapter is dedicated to my teacher, Mr. McHugh, for being such a good teacher . . . or something like that.

**xXxXx**

**Chapter Ten - Mr. McHugh**

_Rewind ten years. Kairi was six years old, sitting on the fluffy, off-white sofa. She couldn't remember much about that night, but there were certain details she recalled perfectly. Like the way she was reclining on the couch with her feet dangling over the edge, just barely able to reach the carpted floor. The way her dad was sitting only a few inches away from her, leaning on the arm of the sofa. And the fact that they were watching an old movie on their little black and white television, which was all they were able to afford, since, at the time, her mother was unemployd. She could not remember even what the movie was about, but, at one point, some sort of tentacles started growing out of someone's head, or something along those lines. And it freaked her out. Big time._

_Next thing she knew, she had climbed onto her father's lap, with her head buried in his chest and her tiny hands clutching the sides of his t-shirt. Nearly sobbing, she was clearly overreacting to the scene on the television, but she was only six, and her father couldn't help but chuckle._

_"It's not funny!" she sobbed, glaring into his chest._

_He didn't respond, but a smile was plastered to his face as he looked down at the tiny body curled up in his arms. _

_When he didn't say anything, Kairi used her whiniest voice possible, knowing very well that she may get some of the cookie dough ice cream that had been sitting in the freezer. "I want Mommy! You're being mean!"_

_"Oh well! You're going to have to deal with me!" He tried to hide the grin on his face and replaced it with fake anger. Growling playfully, he lunged toward her to tickle her sides._

_Just before he could reach her, she screeched giddily and jumped off his lap, running across the room. He got up and continued chasing her with his hands held out in front of him threateningly, like a dinosaur attacking it's prey. Soon, he had backed her into the kitchen and, in a desperate attempt to escape the inevitable tickle fight awaiting her, she ducked behind a chair. "Mommy!" she screamed._

_Kairi's father stopped in his tracks as the smile faded from his face. "Mommy's not here right now."_

_No longer sensing a threat from her father, Kairi peeked out from behind her shield of a chair. "Where is she?"_

_"Uh . . . She's out with her friends." It was the same answer he gave his daughter every time she asked this question, but you can only tell a six-year-old something so many times before they start to question it._

_"_Again? _Shouldn't she be with _you_?"_

_"Yeah." He unsuccessfully attempted to grin weakly. "I guess you're right."_

_Kairi and her father stared at each other for a few long moments before he clapped his hands together and straightened up, trying to look cheery, though failing badly. "Well, how about I go run out and buy some ice cream for you?" He didn't even bother getting his jacket on as he opened the back door to reveal the warm, summer night breeze._

_Running over to him, Kairi begged, "Please don't go, Daddy! I'll be all alone!"_

_"I'll be right back," he promised, patting her head._

_"But we've got ice cream in the freezer, already!"_

_Ignoring her desperate pleas, he continued to hastily stumble out the door. "So is chocolate chip mint okay?"_

_"But I don't--" But Kairi was interrupted by the slamming of the back door. "But I don't like chocolate chip mint," she finished meekly._

_That night, her father never came home._

**xXx**

"Kairi! Kairi! Snap out of it!"

"Hm?" Suddenly Kairi was brought back to reality and almost fell backwards when she looked up to find Selphie's hand waving only inches away from her face. "Whoa! What's the big idea!?"

Retrieving her hand, Selphie giggled at her friends reaction. "You need to get with it, Kairi. I know it's early, but you've been spacing out since we left the house, and we're almost at our stop."

"Left the house?" Kairi looked around and took in her surroundings. They were on a bus, and she was sitting next to Selphie. She tried to remember getting on the bus, or even leavin the house, but she couldn't. Not even a little. The last thing she could recall was the buzzing of Selphie's alram clock in her ear after a sleepless night. Vaguely, she also remembered getting changed and brushing her teeth and hair. But that was the extent of it. She couldn't rmember leaving the house or talking to Selphie at all. "Uh . . . Sorry. I didn't get any sleep last night."

"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't have." As they continued riding towards the school, which Kairi realized was only a few minutes away, Selphie put her hand on her hip and looked at her questioningly. "How are you going to get through school today? I'm pretty sure that excuse won't work on the teachers."

Yawning, Kairi just shrugged. She was too exhausted to even think of an answer, nonetheless put the effort into actually voicing it aloud. But there was something she wanted to know. "You know, yesterday . . . ?"

Nodding slowly, Selphie wondered where this was going.

"How come you were so determined to defend Tidus? When I thought the screenname was his?" she finished asking.

Selphie thought about this for a moment and looked to the ground before replying. "Well, he _is _my best friend." She back up at Kairi to confirm her friend's understanding. "Like, how would you feel if I accused Riku or Sora of attempting to rape me or something?"

"Actually, I wouldn't put it past them," Kairi said, smiling to herself.

Selphie nonchalantly waved her hand in Kairi's direction as she mockingly stuck her nose in the air. "Well, it's not my fault that you have bad friends."

"Hey, that's not true! They're great friends!" Kairi shot back defensively. It was only after she had already said it that she realized that she had just been tricked into admitting that she had decent friends and proved Selphie's point for her.

As Selphie smirked victoriously, Kairi glared daggers at her. "You really suck, you know that?"

Still smirking, she pointed a finger at Kairi. "That may be true, but now you know what I mean, right?"

"Yeah." Kairi sighed and was about to say something else, but, before she could, Selphie chimed in cheerfully.

"We're heeeeere!"

Looking up, Kairi noticed that they had, in fact, reached the school. Kairi checked her watch, which was securely fastened to her wrist. It was 7:55 A.M. Just in time for the start of homeroom. "Are you always this early?"

"Yup," Selphie replied, as she and Kairi stood up and, along with a line of a few other students, exited the bus.

Once off the bus, Kairi stood and stared at the other students trickling into the school, the fatigue that she had forgotten about while talking to Selphie returned, as if someone had just dropped a ton of bricks upon her back.

Hearing Kairi sigh, Selphie looked over concerned, remembering the long night Kairi had. "Are you okay?"

"Okay as I'll every be."

"Well, then we might as well go inside," Selphie suggested.

"Yeah, I can already tell it's going to be a great day," Kairi replied sarcastically, as the two girls made their way towards the main entrance.

**xXx**

"So what are you going to tell Sora and Riku?"

"What?" Kairi stopped what she was doing, which happened to be getting her books from her locker, and turned to face Selphie. The question had her taken aback, since she hadn't really thought about Sora or Riku since last night, and Selphie hadn't said anything until now, which happened to be right in the middle of a hallway full of nosy peers. Before she could answer, though, her Algebra 2 book, slid down and hit her in the head. "Ouch!"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Bending down, she scooped up the book in her arms and placed it back in it's rightful place, this time making sure it was stable. "I dont see why I have to tell them anything," Kairi said, referring to Sora and Riku again.

"They're your best friends, Kairi. I'm sure they're worried about you. It's not right to keep this from them." Selphie glanced over Kairi's shoulder. "And one of them is coming this way right now."

"Talking about me?"

Kairi pivoted and found herself face-to-face with Sora, who was smirking with a baseball mit in one hand and a bat in the other. "Um . . . What are you doing here?"

Raising an eyebrow at Kairi, Sora turned to his locker and tried to remember his combination. "My locker is two away from yours. It has been for two years, remember? A little forgetful today, aren't we? By the way, do you remember what my locker combination is? It slipped my mind." Sora could tell something with Kairi still wasn't right, but he wasn't about to go ask her about it right then.

"Oh . . . Um . . . It's 9-11-25." Kairi was almost surprised that Sora didn't say anything about last night, but that didn't mean that she wasn't relieved.

With all of her neccessary books in hand, Selphie shut her locker and turned to Sora and Kairi. "Jeez, and you call her forgetful!"

Still trying to get his combination right, Sora pouted. "Well, it's not my fault. Okay, so it is, but they gave me a really hard one!"

"What's hard about it!?" Kairi laughed, almost forgetting that is wasn't just another day that she and Riku and Sora joked around with one another. "By the way, where _is _Riku?"

"He's on student council, remember? Man this is really a bad day for you, isn't it?" Sora gave up on his locker and turned to Kairi with a grin. "He gets out of all his classes today to help with the finishing touches on the carnival for tonight."

Suddenly, Kairi's eyes became wide. "Oh God! I forgot all about the carnival! Is it really today?"

"Yup! It's Friday."

"Man, what bad timing," she mumbled to herself.

"Hm?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Okay." Sora just shrugged it off. "So, are you going?"

Stuttering, Kairi tried to think of a legitimate excuse to not go. With her current situation, she really didn't feel like going to a crowded carnival in the dark. "W-well, I've got a lot of homework and I--"

But before Kairi could finish, Sora interrupted her. "Mr. Takahashi already said he wouldn't give us homework tonight so we can enjoy the carnival. And even if you _did _have homework to make up or something, you'd have the whole weekend to do it. Just come and have some fun tonight, will ya?

Kairi mentally slapped herself for not considering these things earlier. But she had been desperate. _Real smooth Kairi._

Before Kairi could think of anything else to day in her defense, Selphie saved her by cutting in and changing the subject. "I didn't know you were on the baseball team, Sora," she said leaning against her locker, getting tired of waiting for her friends.

Grinning arrogantly, Sora flexed his muscles. "Yup. Starting third baseman. I wasn't going to try out, but they begged me, so I figured that it'll give me something to do."

"Yeah right! Why would they want you on the team!?"

"I thought it was the pitcher and the first baseman were the most important people on the team."

The girls laughed as they mocked Sora's arrogance and knocked him down a few pegs.

Once again, Sora pouted and crossed his arms. "Well, shows how much you know! How 'bout you guys come to the game tonight? Then I can show you how good I really am."

Intrigued, Selphie straightened up when she heard his suggestion. "What about the carnival?"

"The game starts right after school. The carnival doesn't start until six. We have plenty of time," Sora answered. "In fact, we can leave straight from the game to get to the carnival. If we're early, we can go bug Riku or something."

Knowing very well that Kairi would reject the idea right away, Selphie walked up next to Kairi and jumped in before Kairi could say anything. "We're in."

"Cool!"

Winking at Kairi, Selphie grinned as Kairi sent a death glare at her. Before she could argue, though, the bell rang through the hallways. "Crap, I gotta get the rest of my books." Quickly, Kairi turned to her locker and started getting the books she'd need for first period. She paused a moment to glance at Sora, who was still just standing there, before she continued grabbing books. "Shouldn't you be getting your books also?"

Shrugging, Sora nonchalantly glanced towards his unopened locker. "I can't get my locker open."

"You didn't really try . . . " Selphie said.

"Well, the teacher doesn't know that." Sora smiled innocently, making Kairi giggle.

"You know you're a horrible influence." With that said, Kairi slammed her locker shut, and, along with Selphie and Sora, headed towards her first class.

**xXxXx**

**A/N: **I went into Kairi's past some, but nothing too tragic since I don't want this to become a soap opera type thing. Next chapter, I'll go into it more.


	12. Facing the Truth

**A/N: **Emotionally distraugt. :( Enjoy.

**xXxXx**

**Chapter Eleven - Facing the Truth**

Kairi had no way of knowing how much her probing questions had hurt her father. No way of knowing what her mother was _really_out doing. Now way of knowing that her father would never come home. If you could even call that dirty, creaking old shack a home. She was only six; how was she supposed to know? How could you really blame her? But it sure seemed as if her mother did.

After the night Kairi's father left, her mother refused to talk about the incident. Actually, she hardly spoke to Kairi at all. Not that she was ever extremely talkative around Kairi; it was just much lonlier without her father to keep her company. Before, he was in the same boat as she was--being ignored by her mother. But now she was alone. And lonliness left a scar far deeper than any other wound.

For a while, Kairi didn't even realize what was really going on. At six years old, her logic had not yet grown to full maturity, and she just figured he had stopped at the office on the way to the convenience store to finish up some work. Her mother's reaction, or lack of which, did not help at all. So Kairi continued waiting for him to return with the half-gallon of chocolate chip mint ice cream. She would criticize him for bringing the wrong flavor of ice cream and, more importantly, for leaving her alone the night before. He would apologize, she would forgive him, and their ice-cream-filled lives would go on as usual.

But things didn't happen that way.

It wasn't until the next night that she started to become suspicious, so naturally, she went to the only adult figure and living lifeform around at the time: her mother. She could still remember that night quite clearly:

_Slowly creeping down the short hallway of the apartment, a young Kairi peeked into the kitchen, where her mother was slouching at the table, smoking a cigarette. Kairi figured it must have been one of her nights "off", which is a term her mother used for the nights she didn't go out partying. Either that or she wasn't going out until later, but Kairi assumed by the ratty robe she was wearing and the way she was staring listlessly into space rather than getting ready for the night that it probably the former._

_Kairi was supposed to be sleeping; it was way past her bedtime. She was sure her mother would not like the fact that she was still awake, but she could not get to sleep without being tucked in by her father._

_Hesitantly, she stepped into the kitchen and tiptoed over to her mother. The tiptoing was quite pointless since both members of the household were wide awake, and her mother could already clearly see her. The silence was thick, though, and she could not bring herself to break it just yet._

_"Hm?" Her mother's head shot to the side to look at her when Kairi emerged, startling her._

_Backing up a few steps, Kairi braced herself to be slapped and scolded as all young kids hated to be, but she heard nothing from her mother. All she could see on her face was the glazed expression she wore before. So Kairi continued. "When's Daddy coming back?"_

_The older woman grunted and took another puff at her cigarette before answering her daughter. "Not for a while, Sweetheart."_

_Now Kairi knew that something was definitely wrong. As long as Kairi lived on this Earth, although not long, Her mother never called her 'Sweetheart' or any variation of it. __**Never.**_

_Kairi also noticed that her mother was drumming her middle and index fingers, which was not all that unusual, considering she had had that habit as long as Kairi could remember -- probably even longer -- especially when she smoked. Her leg was also shaking. Separate, they seemed like perfectly normal things to do. But Kairi knew that her mother only happened when she was extemely upset or anxious. At least that's what her father told her once, when Kairi had asked about it._

_"Where is he?"_

_Kairi's mother's only response was a sigh. When she did speak, Kairi could hear a trace of weariness in her voice. "Just go back to bed, Sweetheart." Again with the 'Sweetheart.' We can talk about it some other time."_

_Refusing to look her mother in the eye, Kairi did not budge, but rather stood there and stared down at her fingers, which were now fidgiting uncontrollably. "But I can't go to sleep without Daddy tucking me in._

_Suddenly, something in her mother snapped as she stood up and leaned over Kairi. The younger girl backed up, putting her arms up in defence. The look in her mother's eyes had totally changed. They were now full of emotion, rage. Her voice was nothing but a low hissing sound. "He got into a car accident and __**died, **__okay?!" Eyes brimming over with annoyance and a trace of sadness, she lingered over Kairi for a couple more seconds until she sat down, crossed her arms and turned away from her daughter, much like a child would._

_Trying to absorb this information, Kairi listlessly turned, walked back down the hallway to her bedroom, crawled under her covers, and cried._

**xXx**

"So, Selph, please explain to me again why you _brutally forced _me to come here!"

"Kairi, I did _not_ put a gun to your head and make you come here, nor did I tackle you and physically drag you here. You could have tried to protest, you know."

"Well, you put a mental gun to my head, and you know it! Oh! The agony!" Kairi said rather loudly, overdramatically throwing her head into her hands and looking rather ridiculous.

Selphie sighed and looked around. People were staring at them, which was what Kairi was probably aiming for. This way Selphie could not bring up any 'awkward' topics.

They _were _quite a site after all, crouching down behind the lone tree next to the bleachers, facing away from the baseball game they were _supposed _to be watching, with Selphie practically hissing at Kairi and Kairi purposely projecting her voice so everyone around them could hear. In fact, it looked like Selphie was about prepared to pummel Kairi into the ground. That would not help the situation, though, and, as Selphie tried oh so hard to remember, Kairi _had_ had a long night.

Once she was sure most of the attention was diverted away from them, Selphie turned to Kairi and began speaking again, this time even softer. "Oh, c'mon, Kairi. We need to talk about your current 'predicament.'" She put predicament in finger quotes as if it was not as bad as it truly was. Half expecting Kairi to freak out again, she awaited the inevitable stares from people trying to watch the baseball game going on behind them, but all Kairi did was stare at the ground and pick the now almost brown grass from its roots to throw into the wind.

"What about it?"

"You know very well what about it!" She looked at Kairi wide-eyed and incredulous. "Are you just going to wait for this person to sneak into your room at night and rape you or--God forbid--kill you!?

Once again people were watching them, bemused, and this time it was Selphie's fault. But that did not stop Kairi from retaliating. "Well, what exactly do you suggest we do then?" She put a mocking ingenuinely eager look on her face. "Oh yeah! Let's go out and catch this person, when we don't know what they look like, what their gender is, or even how many of them there are!" she practically shouted sarcastically, in an all-to-sugary-sweet tone, throwing her arms into the air to emphasize her exasperation. "All we know is what their probably-disguised voice sounds like and that they have some creepy sicko obsession with me. But you're right! We'll definitely catch them!" She was letting her frustration get the better of her, not thinking about her words before blurting them out. Very loudly.

Determined to get Kairi to shut up before she said something she'd surely regret, Selphie leaned up as close as she could to Kairi without falling into her. "Well, how would you feel if said person was listening to us right now, watching our every move?" she hissed quietly, looking for the slightest faulter in Kairi's will.

Kairi did not show any sign of weakness, though. Sinisterly smirking back at Selphie, she responded, in the same tone, "Well, screw him. They're already stalking me! What's the harm if they hear me talking about him? It's only natural."

At this point, as Selphie noticed, people were not only eyeballing them and pointing at them; they were _glowering _at them. One older gentlemen who was sitting behind his much younger daughter even flipped them off. Selphie contemplated responding to the man with a gesture of her own, but she decided against acknowledging him. Instead, she sighed and stood up, walking towards her backpack, which was sitting behind the bleachers. They could not continue their conversation the way it was going, and Selphie knew it. Once she was kneeling down in front of it, she unzipped the bag and pulled out her notebook. After making her way back to the tree, she ungracefully settled herself back down in the uncut, nearly dead grass next to Kairi. Quickly glancing at her friend and then back to the notebook, Selphie began busily scribbling something on the clean lined paper with the pen that had been tucked in to the binding.

Leaning over Selphie's shoulder to see what she had written, Kairi read silently to herself, "_Funny, you won't tell Sora what's going on, but you'll let the rest of the world know_."

Kairi straightened up and glared at Selphie for a couple moments before holding her hand out for the notebook and pen. Actually, it was more like she stuck her hand in Selphie's face and waited for the notebook and pen. Selphie quickly obliged and watched as Kairi placed the notebook on her lap and hunced over, devising a message of her own. "_Well, the rest of the world doesn't care about me. They won't freak out if they know. They won't even care about the 'poor little red-headed girl that's sitting behind a tree, slowly and painfully losing her mind_!" it read.

Selphie just stared at Kairi's words, unable to believe her senseless logic. But she knew that she had found Kairi's weakness: Sora.

"You know, _that _is exactly why you _should _tell Sora," she whispered. "He cares about you a lot, Kai. He's _worried._"

Shoulder's dropping, Kairi let out a deep breath that she didn't even realize she was holding in, and handed the notebook back to Selphie, who took it and laid it in the dirt. "How would you know? He didn't even say anything about it." Her voice was slightly louder than Selphie's, but not so much that it attracted any more attention, for which Selphie was extremely thankful.

Rolling her eyes and sighing at Kairi's pure stubborness, Selphie could not help but feel like standing up and strangling her. She only wished she had someone that cared for her as much as Sora cared for Kairi. Looking down at the ground, she shifted her weight to the palms of her hands as she leaned closer to Kairi. "He wasn't himself today. Sora doesn't get upset easily, you know, but you can definitely tell when he does. You're just too distracted to notice."

It was true that she had been distracted that day, suddenly hating her seat right in the middle of the front row of the classroom, knowing very well that someone could be watching her every move as she self-consciously went though her day. All day, she was glancing over her shoulder, trusting no one. Being surrounded by all those people whom she could not trust was almost worse than trying to get to sleep in Selphie's quiet, dark room the night before.

_Almost._

Sora seemed perfectly fine, though. He walked into his first period class, grinning, without his books in tow. Then, their teacher, Mr. Takahashi, scolded him saying that if Sora's grades weren't so good, he'd be off the baseball team in a second. But Sora went on grinning his stupid grin because he knew no matter how much he screwed up, he'd always be Mr. Takahasi's favorite student. Other than that, Kairi did not see Sora much. He used to sit next to her, alphabetically, in the front door, but he 'disrupted the class too much,' as Mr. Takashashi put it, by talking to Kairi that he got moved next to Selphie, who sat on the other side of Kairi. But from Kairi's point of view, Sora seemed the same as always.

"That's not true! He was his usual doofy self, making his usual doofy remarks!" Kairi responded, her voiced raised once again.

"Talkin' about me?"

Kairi felt her whole body tense. She didn't even have to turn around to know who was now standing directly behind her. Shutting her mouth immediately, she closed her eyes, praying that Sora had not heard too much of their conversation. She heard footsteps approaching her and by the time she had opened her eyes again, she saw that sora was sitting beside her, pulling his knees up to his chest and staring at Kairi, without a trace of expression on his face. He was decked out in his baseball uniform, purple and white for school colors. His sports bag was slung over his shoulder and a backwards cap reading "Ravens Baseball" graced his head.

Kairi just stupidly stared back, wide-eyed and unable to say anything.

"Look! It's Riku in a bikini!" Outstretching her arm, Selphie pointed to a now deserted right field.

"Where?" Pushing the bag off his shoulder and almost hitting Kairi with the baseball bat sticking out of it, Sora stood and started frantically looking around the field, swinging his head from side to side. "Where!?"

Putting one of her signiture 'what-the-hell?' looks on her face, Kairi turned around and gave the look to Selphie. The other girl just merely shrugged nonchalantly and put on an innocent 'just-trying-to-help' face. Kairi rolled her eyes and turned back to Sora, just in time to see him stop and pivot around to face them. There was a smirk on his face and a distinguished all-knowing look in his eye. "Aha! I get what you were trying to do! You were trying to divert my attention away from the fact that you weren't watching the game!" He grinned at the two girls and lowered himself next to Kairi again. "But I caught you! Now explain!"

Kairi sighed in relief. Sora didn't bring up last night or the conversation, and she was so happy about that that she could have thrown her arms around Sora right then and there. But now she had to explain why she and Selphie were hiding behind a tree making a huge commotion instead of watching his game.

"Uh, we were watching the game. We just happened to turn away everytime you looked over here," Selphie lied lamely, smiling innocently and saving Kairi the trouble. Kairi had to admit that Selphie saved her in more than one awkward moment, but she always did it in the most ridiculous of ways. _"Thank God for Selphie," _she thought.

"Ah," Sora said, nodding and going along with Selphie's ludicrous statement. "So you must have seen my awesome, mind-blowing catch at first base, right?"

"Eh? I mean, yeah. Of course."

Stroking his chin, Sora continued nodding. "That's strange. Because I play third." He raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "I guess the only explaination would be that you're psychic. You must have seen into my future as a professional baseball player making that awesome, mind-blowing catch at first."

With her idea back-firing on her, as should be expected, Selphie shut her eyes and grimaced, fighting the urge to laugh at Sora's claim.

Still overwhelmingly relieved at the fact that Sora had not heard their conversation, Kairi just shook her head at the whole exchange. Yup, Sora was definitely his same old self.

Out of nowhere, Tidus, dressed exactly like Sora, swung around the tree and halted in front of Sora, cocking his head and smirking at him. "Yo, we won today! That makes us 3-0!" He pumped his fist in the air, overly excited about the minor accomplishment.

"Hunh? The game's over?" Kairi scratched her head and looked around. Sure enough, the field was almost completely deserted except a few of the baseball players and their families.

"You're just realizing this?" Selphie repositioned herself, so she was in front of Kairi and started studying her face, with an inquisitive look in her eye and her lips twisted into a frown. "You're really out of it, you know.'

"What are you sitting around here for?!" Wakka came striding towards the other four teenagers, wearing the same uniform as Sora and Tidus. "We need to get to the carnival!"

Pulling a cell phone out of his bag, Sora flipped it opened and inspected it for a moment. "We still have half an hour before it even opens."

Tidus chuckled and elbowed Wakka in the side as if they had some hilarious inside joke. "We need the time to go make fun of Riku, though."

Selphie took her attention away from Kairi and focused on the boys instead. "Why would you make fun of Riku?" She noticed Wakka was also smirking, and Sora was looking back and forth between the two, puzzled.

Tidus looked up, still smirking, and started pacing back in forth in front of the tree. "Oh, just because a source informed Wakka and me that there would definitely be reason to make fun of Riku tonight." With that said, he turned to Wakka and got a competitive look in his eye. "Race you there!"

Wakka grinned and both boys took off sprinting at full-speed, their bags banging against their hips as they ran.

Sora stood up and seriously contemplated running after them. "What are you talking about?" he shouted out to the boys who were slowly disappearing into the distance.

"Don't wanna ruin the suprise!" Tidus hollered over his shoulder, smirking, before he faced straight ahead again and started running as hard as he could. Wakka did the same. Soon enough, they were out of hearing distance.

Sighing, Sora pivoted towards Kairi and Selphie, whose full attention were also on what the two boys had just said. "Wonder what that was about." He shrugged, carelessly. "Oh well. Thier just going to wear themselves out. Guess we should get going too."

"He held out a hand to each girl and, when the girls took them, pulled them up, effortlessly.

After getting up, Kairi was standing directly in front of Sora and stared down at the ground. "I'll be right back. Gotta go to the bathroom. Wait up for me." Before either of her friends could respond, Kairi turned and started jogging towards the school, the nearest bathroom, pushing the loose pieces of hair that were blown into her face by the wind out of her eyes.

Wanting to avoid any unnecessary awkward conflicts, Selphie turned her back to Sora and watched Kairi disappear. _"Great. Now I'm alone with Sora."_

As Sora watched Selphie out of the corner of his eye, he relaxed his grin and sighed exasperated. Putting on airs for Kairi was tiring, but he also wanted to avoid any unnecessary conflict that would make her even more upset, especially with other people around. He was usually laid back, but acting like he was when he really was completely tense and worried was just wearing him out. He crossed his arms over his chest as Selphie's previous words echoed in his ears: "_You know, that is exactly why you should tell Sora," _and, "_He wasn't himself today. Sora doesn't get upset easily, you know, but you can definitely tell when he does. You're just too distracted to notice." _One thing was for sure: If he wanted to know what was going on with Kairi, there was only one way to find out.

Once he was sure Kairi was out of hearing distance, Sora turned himself to fully face Selphie, arms still across chest and a tired, fustrated look in his eye, making him seem much more intimidating than before, when Kairi had been there. He wiped his hand over his face, showing just how exasperated he was. "Selph, I need to talk to you."

"Hn?" Selphie didn't turn around to face him directly, but only watched him out of the corner of her eye. She knew exactly what was coming next, and, this time, she had no idea how she would handle this confrontation.

"It's about Kairi."

**xXxXx**

**A/N: **o0 That was long. Too long if you ask me. I don't like really long chapters. The last few chapters have been really boring. More like filler chapters. Sad? Yes, but necessary for later chapters.


	13. Stuck

**xXxXx**

**Chapter Twelve - Stuck**

Kairi probably should have thought it odd that they had not had a funeral in honor of her father, that long lost relatives, who she would most likely not even recognize for lack of exposure to them, did not come and fuss over her, pinching her cheeks and making pitiful faces at her, as many did when someone died. But she didn't.

She didn't know any better, and now, as a teenager, she rarely pondered the events. It was all just one huge nightmare.

**xXx**

Sora slowly started striding towards Selphie. "Selphie, what do you know about Kairi?" The usual care-free look was gone from his face. Instead, an intimidatingly serious look, that was rare for Sora graced his features. It made him look older, more threatening, and Selphie was, by no means, ready for it.

As Sora approached, Selphie felt her whole body tense. "I . . . don't know." Her fists clenched and her eyes closed as her face twisted in a painful grimace at how glaringly, flauntingly obvious her dishonesty was. "I . . . I mean--"

"Don't lie to me, Selph." Stepping in front of Selphie, Sora gave her a full view of himself, obstructing her vision of the rest of their surroundings. His nose was practically touching hers, was he forced her to look directly into his eyes. Selphie could not help but notice that without that imbelcilic grin on his face, Sora looked shockingly attractive. In fact, she thought, if they were different people, in another reality, under different circumstances, and Selphie was not scared motionless, she might have even considered making a move on him. This thought alleviated a bit of the tension, but large beads of sweat continued to form on her forehead. "I know you know something," he whispered. "I heard you guys talking."

Selphie shut her eyes again to avoid gaping at him while he stared her straight in the eye, undeviatingly. She could not believe it. She that she and Kairi had been reckless, talking so loudly about such a sensitive topic, and she knew one of them should have been looking out for Sora. It was mere common sense. Yet, she still had not dreamt that Sora had been eavesdropping. "Don't do this to me, Sora," she responded, using her signature whiney voice. "Kairi will be back any second." Making a show of craning her neck and peering over Sora's shoulder for Kairi, Selphie took a step backwards to put more distance between them, but she was stopped short when she backed right into the trunk of that lone tree. "_Curse you, you tree! You have betrayed me today in more than one way!" _she said mentally, knowing that if she had said it out loud, she would look just plain ridiculous in Sora's eyes.

Sora didn't turn around. Instead, he outstretched his arm and up his hand on the bark next to Selphie's head, so she could not try to make an escape. He was determined to make Selphie tell him what was going on if it was the last thing he did. "You better talk quickly, then." If you could only hear his voice and not see his face, you would think he was smirking by his tone, but his face was actually pulled into a frown. "Anyway, it _is _her story, isn't it? What's the harm if she hears it again." He didn't not really mean it. If Kairi had been there, he would not have said any of these things. But he couldn't let Sephie on to that. And he knew that if Selphie really saw Kairi, she would practically flip out, so he would have plenty of time to react.

Selphie sunk down, trying to avoid Sora's penatrating gaze. For a moment, she contemplated telling Sora, freeing herself from the awkward situation. It's not like she was sworn to secrecy or something like that. But she could not bring herself to so blatantly betray Kairi's confidence. They were not the best of friends, as Selphie was already well aware, and they disagreed on many things, especially lately, but they were friends nonetheless, and Kairi had instilled her utmost trust in her. "That's exactly why she should tell you herself," she sighed, looking down at Sora's feet, which looked abnormally huge next to Selphie's tiny, delicate ones.

Sora was taken aback; he had expected Selphie to cave in and reveal all, but , as it turns out, he had misjudged her will. Realizing how strangely suspicious it would appear if someone were to innocently amble on by on their way to the carnival, he found himself backing up a few steps, and giving Selphie some breathing space. Awkwardly scratching the back of his brunette cranium, he sighed and looked down to the side, adverting his blue orbs away from Selphie. "She's . . . " He paused, looking for the right words, his voice hinted with angst. "She doesn't want to tell me."

Once there was some distance between Sora and herself, Selphie straightened up, feeling her confidence slowly returning at Sora's display of weakness. "Well, have you really tried to talk to her about it? She thinks that you don't even care to know!"

Biting his lip, Sora glanced towards Selphie once again, causing her to freeze where she was standing. But instead of determination, there was a look of defeat on his face, his eyes looking like a sad armadillo's. "No," he said, taking a deep breath. "No, I haven't."

**xXx**

From behind yet another tree only a few yards away, Kairi watched Selphie and Sora's conflict. She had never really had to go to the bathroom; it was just an excuse to get in the position she was now to spy on them.

She could not hear them, for if she got any closer, they might have heard the stones colliding beneath her feet or seen any grass she might have kicked up. But by the looks on their faced and their movements, though, she could only come to one conclusion: Selphie had told him _everything_.

Her body felt limp as she lowered herself to the ground. "_So much for trust."_

**xXxXx**

**A/N: **Short Chapter this time. Oh well. Sora acted like a jerk in this chapter. But it's only cuz he's worried. :3


	14. Men in Bikinis

**A/N: **Eh, I got no sleep last night. Anyway, the whole thing with Riku, it's a request my Kingdom Hearts obsessed friend put in. So don't ask.

**xXxXx**

**Chapter Thirteen - Men in Bikinis**

"talking about English homework the whole time, Kairi had silently vowed not to speak to them for the rest of the day, even if it meant downright ignoring them. And she did. For the whole fifteen minute walk to the carnival, even though, with the silence thickly looming around them, it seemed so agonizingly long, she did not utter a single, solitary world, even when Sora started asking if she knew anything about Riku. Sora looked somewhat perplexed at Kairi's response, or lack thereof, but from then on, neither of her companions said anything more.Oh. My. God." After returning from the "bathroom" to Sora and Selphie, who acted completely innocent, as if they had really been

The thoughts that swirled in her head as she gaped at the sight in front of her, though, were too much to hold hin. "Oh. My. God," she repeated, too stunned to say anything more. She had the urge to laugh, but she was not sure if it was the right time; Riku migt have slaughtered her, considering the fierce, almost violent, look flaring up in his eye.

Beside her, Sora quickly ran a hand through his tangled locks and sent Riku an expression much like Kairi's: wide-eyed and incredulous. Swiveling around to face Selphie, who was behind him and still had not seen what was exciting the other two in such a way, Sora forcefully grabbed her arm and pulled her next to him, practically knocking her off balance as a wide grin gradually spread across his features. "You _are _psychic, Selphie!" Mercilessly grabbing Selphie's shoulders, he swung her around to face him as he practically jumped up and down with the excitement of a four-year old on Christmas. Though usually, she was scold him for swinging her around as he was, but she became too distracted to do so when she saw what Sora was talking about.

Standing in front of them was Riku, clad in a black-and-white diagnally striped bikini top and a black wrap-around skirt, which, as one could assume, probably concealed a matching bikini bottom. He sent them a death-glare as Sora, Kairi, and Selphie realized what Tidus had been referring to earlier.

A sadistic smirk had shown itself on Sora's face, and, for a moment, it seemed as if he was about to rub his hands together and evilly cackle like a mad scientist in an old laboratory-monster movie. Thankfully, though, he did not and instead opened his mouth to taunt him. Before he could, though, RIku snapped his head towards him with a nasty, if-you-speak-a-single-word-you-are-dead look on his face, and Sora quickly shut his mouth, but persisted smirking.

"So, Riku . . . ?" Rocking back on her heels, Selphie refused to look Riku in the eye for fear of instantaneously breaking out into uncontrollable fits of laughter. Her question was left dangling; no one dared finish it, though they all desired to be enlighted by the answer.

"I hate your teacher," were Riku's only words before he turned around and, choosing to ignore the expression on his bemused friends' faces, he turned around and began laying stuffed animals out in a wooden, poorly constructed booth to be used as prizes for accurately tossing three whiffle balls into the barrels set up in a row inside the booth.

Sora opened his mouth once again, and this time Riku could not prepare for--or rather scare him out of--what he was going to say. "If your referring to Mr. Takahashi, I believe you're forgetting that he is _your_ teacher, too."

Riku removed a bright red, stuffed dog-bear-looking thing from a plastic bin and placed it next to what appeared to be a pale yellow stuffed rabbit crossed with an olive-colored duck that was placed underneath a couch cushion only to be removed five years later, Riku simply shook his head without turning around and continued what he was doing. "No, I'm not forgetting. I just disowned him." Although they could not see his face, it was obvious that he was not extremely ecstatic about wearing a girl's attire. It was not like Riku was the happiest or most readable person; sometimes he could be a real enigma if you did not know him that well, so it was not uncommon for him to be displaying a distant look on his face, or even an irritated one, but his jerky movements and the trace of monotone in his voice indicated that the blank look on his face was not just from spacing out.

Of course, though it was obvious to the girls, Sora was too dense to actually take much notice of Riku's embarrassment. His intentions were not cruel; he just could not pass up this chance to poke fun at Riku. That's what friends do after all, no? "So it _was _Mr. Takahashi! Where is he? I need to hug him!" Sora aimlessly looked around for a few seconds for effect before running off behind a cotton candy stand, probably destined to become lost amongst a flurry of carnival games, thrill rides, fun houses, souvenirs, food stands, and excited students.

The girls sighed simitaneously and headed towards their bikini-clad friend. Even though Kairi was not speaking with Selphie at the moment, right now they were kindred spirits in their duty as Riku's friends to make things easier for Riku.

As Kairi approached him, she got the close up version of Riku in his bikini. It really did look ridiculous, and she was tempted to chuckle at the sheer absurdness of the whole ordeal, but she restrained herself well and was able to keep herself composed for Riku's sake. "So, why, exactly, are you wearing . . . that anyway? The question came out sounding very tactless despite the fact that she was merely inquiring.

Halting his stuffed-animal preparations for the upcoming carnival, RIku let his arms fall limp at his sides, grunted, and pivoted so his back was to the booth. In this position, the sunlight was hitting his face, so he closed his eyes to avoid it. "Mr. Takahashi," he began, spitting out the name as if it was venomous, "says that the student council president sits in the dunking booth every year, and as president this year it is my 'duty to uphold the tradition' or something like that, he continued using his most official tone to imitate his sensei, or his former sensei as he would put it.

Selphie cocked her head to the side, inquisitively. "But that doesn't explain why you're not wearing swin trunks instead of . . ." Once again, she left her statement lingering in the air, figuring that she need not carry on for Riku to comprehend what she was trying to say.

Sighing, Riku sluggishly opened his eyes to reveal an ingenuine expression of false cheerfulness, still refusing to look directly at either of the girls. "Well, apparently, there hasn't been another male president in this school for over ten years. Therefore this is the most masculine bathing suit they have. And since he told me this at the last minute, I was forced into this." His voice was oozing fake merriment as he gave himself another quick once-over and sighed again. Then, he began studying the dried up grass on the ground and rubbed the back of his neck, as if he was embarrassed or even ashamed of somthing. In a considerably lower, more solemn tone, he said, "And then he threatened my role as head of student counsel if I didn't put it on." Picking up his hands he placed them on the edge of the wooden counter behind him to steady himself as he propped himself against it. An image of their sadistic teacher popped into Kairi's mind. She could only imagine what the exchange between the two of them was like while he was trying to convice Riku into the bathing suit, since they were both so stubborn, but of course Mr. Takahashi's authority won out over Riku's bull-headed-ness.

"Oh, don't worry, Riku. I-it lookes great on you! Really accentuates your features." Kairi put a comforting hand on Riku's now fully-exposed shoulders, as she nodded in agreement to her own very unconvincing words. She doubted that the silver-haired boy was buying any of this, but she could not help but attempt to solace her friend. "You'll have girls crawling all over you." That last part was not exactly a lie. Enigma or not, Riku was a huge flirt. And although he never had a steady girlfriend, the girls at school loved him. Partially because he was the most buff second year student in the school and the almost-skimpy bikini he was wearing just served to show that off. It caused Kairi to reminisce of the days of her youth when she had a crush on Riku.

At the feel of Kairi's hand on his shoulder, Riku's head jerked up suddenly and his face became crimson with a deep blush. Something about Kairi touching him while he was in a bikini just didn't feel right, no matter how innocent it might be. Shimmying her hand off his shoulder, Riku mumbled his thanks and something about the carnival starting soon before rushing off to the same cotton candy stand that Sora had disappeared behind.

Kairi watched him hurry away, and she could not shake the feeling that she had said something wrong.

**xXxXx**

**A/N: **So that was a weird chapter. And not extremely long either. If you squint hard enough, you can see some RikuxKairi in there, although that was not my intention.


	15. Carnival of Doom

**A/N: **Thank you to those who reviewed last chapter. It was mostly just for comic reilief and a bit of character development on Riku and Kairi's part. From here on, though, the story will pick up as we come closer to the end, since it has been pretty much dead for the last few chapters.

**xXxXx**

**Chapter Fourteen - Carnival of Doom**

"So," began Tidus, leaning against the side of a rather large storage crate, using the palms of his hands to steady himself. "How are things going between you and Kairi?" Smirking an all-knowing smirk, he nudged Sora in the ribs and raised an eyebrow at him, suggesting, as he did often, that there was something more to the friendship between Sora and Kairi than they would let on. It had become quite a popular joke between Tidus and Wakka through the years and they were always bringing it up, even though Sora always brushed it off with a laugh and sometimes fake irritation.

Sitting on the crate besides Tidus and allowing his feet to dangle just above the ground, Sora refused to return his stare and took as sip of his diet peach Snapple instead. "Acutally, at this point, I don't even know if she's going to talk to me again." Shaking his head, he sighed before swallowing more of his drink.

The sun was beginning to set and they were sitting behind a funnel cake stand, along with Wakka, where the student council stacked a few of the empty boxes to get them out of the way. It was merely a storage area to the people preparing for the event, but it was a perfect hang-out for the boys as they patiently awaited the beginning of the upcoming carnival.

Tidus raides his eyebrow, yet again, only this time it was out of actual curiosity, rather than the mock eagerness he used when meddling in Sora's private life. "Wha-?" It was the first time in the many years he had known Sora and Kairi that Sora gave a serious response to the question. "What did you do this time, Baka?" he asked, using his nickname for Sora. Cocking his head to the side, he frowned inquisitively and playfully punched Sora on the shoulder when he didn't protest to being called 'Baka.'

Wakka, who was settled on the ground in front of a cerulean-colored bin filled with newspaper, using it as a back rest, poked at his own funnel cake with a plastic fork, silently listening to the conversation between his two friends until now. "Didn't you notice the way she was glaring at him earlier, ya?"

Both the boys diverted their attention away from each other towards Wakka, surprised to hear him finally say something, as he had been silent for the past half hour they had been sitting there. "No," they both said, almost similtaneously.

Now it was Sora's turn to look puzzled, as he cocked an eyebrow in Wakka's direction. "She was?"

When he noticed the questioning stares he was receiving, Wakka hesitantly glanced up at them, away from his food. "Um, I-I just notice those kinds of things," he stuttered, realizing that he must have said the wrong thing, as Sora's face contorted into a hurt grimace.

Tidus patted Sora on the back, curious as to what was going on between Sora and Kairi, but not wanting to delve any further for fear of offending Sora in some way. "Don't worry, Man. I'm sure it's nothing important."

**xXx**

Now that Kairi had nothing to focus her attention on, like Riku in women's swimwear for example, the extreme exhaustion that she had felt earlier that day during school due to her lack of sleep had returned all at once. She felt as if an anvil had just fallen from the sky and crushed her tiny frame, and there was no one to help her out from underneath it; not Selphie, not Riku, and definitely not Sora. Her eyes almost fluttered, but she caught herself in time and willed them to stay open. She had a hard time keeping her knees from buckling beneath her despite the fact that she was using the now-stuffed-animal-covered game booth to support herself.

Selphie stood next to her, arms crossed, watching Kairi out of the corner of her eye, though she did not attempt to speak to her; she had taken the hint when Kairi refused to talk to her and Sora on the walk over to the carnival. Just watching Kairi looking so exasperated made Selphie feel like taking a nap herself. It was hard to believe that Kairi had gotten so worn out in such a short period of time, considering she seemed rather lively at the baseball game; but then again her moods changed from one minute to the next; why shouldn't her fatigue level?

Suddenly the two girls heard noises. Both of their heads shot over to the side toward the entrance, from where the sounds were coming. Apparently the time was getting close to six o'clock--the sun was setting, so it looked dark enough to be. They had been allowed in earlier than everyone else thanks to some persuasion by Sora, who, afterall, _was_ one of Mr. Takahashi's favorite students. But now a few of the student council members with nothing better to do were allowing the other, apparently-not-special-enough-to-come-in-early students who had already showed up to enter. The trickle of teenagers walking by soon became a steady stream as more and more people began appearing to enjoy the event. The silence they had experienced and savored earlier was now gone completely, as the amount of mingled chatter rose greatly, and Kairi began to recongnize many of the varied faces passing by as classmates. She had never realized that their high school had so many students. This whole carnival was a celebration for the cessation of the school semester and the completion of midterms. Most of the students lived in walking distace of the school, and the only ones who would voluntarily miss the festivities would perhaps be the extremely anti-social ones. Therefore, nearly the whole school was there or soon-to-be-arriving.

Just as the last of the sunlight disappeared, a tall boy with unruly, spikey blond hair entered the game booth they were leaning on, probably to begin managing it, and Selphie started moving away, toward the mass of people, before he could say anything, figuring it was best if they weren't in the direct onslaught of their fellow classmates who would be eager for prizes. Kairi reluctantly picked up her feet, which felt as if they weighed about two tons each, and sluggishly trailed after her friend into the crowd.

**xXx**

"Okay, Riku. Get on up there." Mr. Takahashi faced Riku and motioned towards the bench inside the dunking booth, not-so-subtlely hinting that Riku was expected to climb up the ladder leading to it and sit on top, patiently awaiting customers to arrive and attempt to send him plummeting into the water. In a bikini no less.

Riku glared at him, the already fierce look in his eye intensifying. It was the closest he could come to telling him that he hated him for this without actually saying it outright. Oh how he wished he could say it out loud. He was a student, though, and it could be used against him. And knowing Mr. Takahashi, it _would_ be used against him.

The teacher just smirked cruelly at his student like a little boy who just put a frog in his sister's bed. Adult or not, he was as sadistic as someone could get. He loved torturing his students with extremely difficult essay topics and timed tests. Riku knew this well, but he didn't expect him to go _this_ far.

Though he detested the idea, Riku had no choice but to oblige his sensei's orders. So with a sigh, he climbed up to the top and took his seat on the bench, shifting around uncomfortably. _It's difficult to sit right in this skirt, _he thought to himself. _ . . . Wow, I never thought I'd be saying that._

Making sure that Riku wouldn't try to make an escape, Mr. Takahashi lingered a bit longer, taking his time as he strolled towards his next destination. "Leon will be here soon. He'll be the one collecting the money from the people who want to dunk you." The sentence sounded pretty tactless in itself, but Riku knew that he really meant, "Stay put or I'll send Leon to attack you." Or something like that. Which was even more tactless and much more dangerous. So, Riku stayed put.

"Right," Riku agreed submissively, accepting his fate and looking down at the water rippling beneath him. This was going to be a _long _night.

**xXx**

Kairi wandered aimlessly through the large crowds of people, companionless and looking for a familiar face. She had managed to abandon Selphie when they passed the portable bathrooms; the throng of teenagers in that particular area was rather large. Therefore it was a cinch "losing her" among all of those individuals. Only now did she realize just how idiotic that move had been, because now she was alone. Well, as alone as you could get in a horde of three hundred people. And in the dark. Where no one would notice if she just happened to go missing. Or get abducted by another unnoticed person among the massive amount of people.

While she was lost in thought, she didn't notice a certain person moving in behind her. In fact, she did not notice the presence at all until said person poked her directly between the shoulder blades.

Before Kairi could stop herself, she let out a scream at the contact. Actually, it was more like a screech at the top of her lungs, which gained many stares from people passing by. She queited immediately what she realized this and just how ridiculous she must have appeared to onlookers.

"Um . . . Kairi?

The auburn-haired girl whirled around to find herself face-to-face with a fellow red-head, who, at the moment, was wide-eyed, slack-jawed, and red-faced, with his fore finger outstreched, obviously being the one who prodded her. "Er, Wakka . . . "

Standing not too far behind him was Tidus, arms crossed and a bemused look on his face. "What did you do to her, Wakka?" he asked, arching his eyebrows at the pair.

"I don't know, ya?" he replied, turning to face Tidus, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "It happened yesterday, too."

An image of Wakka sneaking up on her in the dark alley the night before flashed in her mind, before she proceded to roll her eyes. This whole incident was awkward enough without them poking fun at her, talking about her as if she was not even there. "You caught me off-guard, that's all," she said in defense of herself.

The only people that were still watching them were people that knew them personally, wondering why Kairi was with Wakka and Tidus instead of Sora or Riku.

Shrugging, Tidus took a few steps forward so he was standing between Wakka and Kairi. "Right. Sorry about that. We were just wondering if you wanted to go on that roller coaster thing with us."

"Roller coaster thing?" The possibility of going on any thrill rides hadn't even been considered by Kairi. Partially because she had been to distracted, but mostly because she was extremely prone to motion sickness. Very horrible, heinous motion sickness. But if her only other option was to continue wandering around by herself, motion sickness was looking pretty darn good right now.

She let out an inaudible sigh. It seemed she had no other choice. "Hn, I guess."

Wakka and Tidus grinned at each other before grabbing Kairi's arms and pulling her off in the direction of the dreaded roller coaster.

**xXx**

"Riku? Why are--"

"Don't you dare finish that question." Riku stared--more like glared--down at Leon, who hadn't been there a few seconds before he began asking about Riku's get-up. Of course Riku, who never particularly liked his tall, overly anti-social classmate and fellow student council member, did not exactly desire to relive the whole experience and just wanted Leon to go away. It was difficult enough trying to remember to keep his legs closed without having to deal with people asking him about it.

Leon, on the other hand, stood watching Riku, amused at what he was seeing. At least more amused than he had been in a while.

Noticing a hint of a smirk flickering across his companion's face, Riku became even more irritated. "Don't look at me that way, _Squall_."

The other boy took his eyes off Riku, crossed his arms, and turned to face the crowd. "I was merely inquiring. You shouldn't be so touchy. And the name's Leon."

"Squally Squally Squall!"

"Oh, yes. Real mature, Bikini Boy."

Blood rushed to Riku's face, not only in frustration, but also in embarrassment as he noticed that people were beginning to linger around them, listing to their conversation.

"You're just jealous because _you're_ not the class president."

Cocking an eyebrow, Leon rotated his head so he could watch Riku out of the corner of his eye. "I didn't run for class president."

"Exactly."

Leon shook his head, but before he could retaliate, he noticed Sora standing beside him. He wondered vaguely for a moment how long Sora had managed to stand there without him noticing it, but he brushed it off quickly and turned to the spikey-haired brunette. "Yes?"

"Sorry to interrupt this _extremely intelligent _conversation," Sora began, smirking back and forth between Riku and Leon, "but I would like to be your first customer." He flashed two crisp dollar bills he had pulled from his pockets in front of Leon.

Both Riku and Leon sighed, almost similtaneously, Riku being just a bit more audible. It seemed that their work was beginning. "Okay. Two dollars gets you two tries. You have to use this baseball to hit the target beside the tank Riku's in. If you hit it, he gets sent spiralling down below into the pool of water beneath him, and you get a prize. If not then good luck next time. You have to stand on that line there. Any throw in front of that line will be ruled invalid." Leon held up a baseball in one hand and pointed to a red line, taped on about four yards away from the target, before proceeding to take Sora's money.

Nodding, Sora grabbed the baseball from Leon and sauntered over to the line. Pivoting around to face Riku, he smirked confidently and faked a pitching motion, causing Riku to flinch. "Okay. That's reasonable. I'll still be able to knock you down on the first try, Riku."

Riku put on a smug look. He wasn't exactly sure that Sora _wouldn't_ dunk him on the first try, but he couldn't let Sora know that, for it would only serve to boost his ego more. "Yeah, right. You could neve--"

But as Riku was talking, Sora did just that without hesitation. The baseball went sailing through the air and into the puny target, and Riku had hardly enough time to prepare himself before the bench he was sitting on opened up beneath him and sent him into the water below.

A huge crowd had now gathered around the tiny booth to watch Sora succeed. Thouroughly entertained, Leon could not help but chuckle at the sight.

Riku resurfaced, flipping his hair back out of his face and coughing, trying to hack up some of the water he had swallowed on the way down. He attempted to scowl at Sora, but the fact that his bangs were now plastered to his face over his eyes made this difficult.

Sora balled his hands up into fists, placed them on his hips, stuck out his chest, and raised his chin in an entirely overly-egotistical stance as he continued smirking. "Destiny High School's starting third baseman _and _back-up pitcher. Don't forget it." He turned to walk towards the prizes so he could get his pick, but paused for moment and rotated to evilly grin at Riku. "Oh, and don't forget to sit like a lady."

**xXx**

Kairi looked back and forth between Tidus and Wakka. They were standing in line underneath the white tracks of the rather large roller coaster they had dragged her to. She gulped loudly, smiling nervously at the two boys she was with. "You know, I'm starting to think that maybe this idea isn't such a great one." Suddenly, the deafening whir of the cars moving along the tracks became even more clamorous, and screams began to accompany it as the cars came down the large slope towards them. Thouroughly disturbed by this, Kairi began to back out of the line. "Actually, I don't think I'm going on at all."

"Yo, Tidus, why don't you take her on the ferris wheel or something, ya? You know, get her prepared," suggested Wakka, following Kairi out of the line. Kairi was surprised. She had expected them to insist that she stay and ride that death machine.

Tidus cocked his head at him and crossed his arms. "What about you?"

"I've got to use the bathroom, anyway. Best to do so before going on something like this, ya?" he said, motioning towards the roller coaster.

Nodding, Tidus stepped out of line, also. "So what do you say, Kai?"

At this point the ferris wheel looked no where near as sickening as the roller coaster above them, so she nodded in agreement. She remembered the carnival the year before when Sora had insisted that she go on the ferris wheel with him. It hadn't been as bad as she assumed it would, and if she had been able to manage that time then why shouldn't she be able to do so this time?

"Er, Kairi? Are you okay? Why are you smiling like that?"

Kairi snapped out of her thoughts to find Tidus waving a hand much too close to her face. She backed up a step to avoid diving head-first into his palm, and looked around. How long had she been out of it? They were still standing in the same spot, but Wakka was no where to be seen. "What happened to Wakka?"

Tidus cocked an eyebrow at his friend. "He just ran off a couple seconds ago," he responded, jerking his thumb behind him towards the direction Wakka had gone off in. "Are you sure you're okay."

Pausing a few moments before answering, Kairi considered his question. With every thing that has been going on lately between Sora, the phone calls, and her mom, the actual answer would be 'no.' But obviously she couldn't let Tidus hear that. "Yeah. Let's go."

**xXx**

The line for the ferris wheel was particularly short, since most of the people that were already there were still trying to find their friends or just find their way around. Those who weren't were eating and playing games, only a few were already on the ferris wheel. Therefore Kairi and Tidus were allowed on right away. Tidus motioned for Kairi to climb in first, which she did with a bit of trouble, for she was wearing flip-flops that got caught on the bar used to step up into the seat. Soon enough, though, she was settled in, after which Tidus followed her into the seat with a little more ease. The girl operating the ride shut and locked the door on the side. It was one of those carts that were only enclosed on the bottom and left your upper body exposed to the night air.

Once the spoke in the center started moving and they began to be lifted from solid ground, Tidus turned to face Kairi. "It's too bad Wakka had to use the bathroom. We had really great spots in line for the roller coaster."

Only partially paying attention to what her friend was saying, Kairi half-heartedly nodded. Her mind was mostly on her other friends, though. She wondered what Riku, Sora, and Selphie were doing now as she began to feel guilty. She had obviously hurt Sora and Selphie when she so blatently disregarded them. But they deserved it, right? Sighing, she dropped her head exasperatedly, which didn't go unnoticed by Tidus.

"Are you _sure _you're okay?"

Before Kairi could respond, the ferris wheel came to a sudden halt about half-way up the top, which sent the cart flying back and forth, making Kairi grip the bar as tightly as she could.

Tidus looked down over the edge of the cart. "Looks like someone else is getting on."

Kairi nodded breathing heavily, unsure of what to say for the cart was still swaying.

"You know what I just realized?" Tidus asked.

"Hm?"

"Wakka didn't go in the direction of the bathroom."

Once again, they were interrupted before Kairi could reply. But this time, it was because they heard a scream. A scream that sounded eerily similar to Selphie's.

**xXxXx**

**AN: **As always, comments, questions, criticism, and ideas are accepted. I take all of the reviews into consideration and appreciate them very much. Well, the eleventh is the anniversary of the day I posted this fic. Pretty nostalgic, no? Well, for me at least. Special thanks to those who have been here since the beginning. My writing has improved since then. (Right?) I'd also like to tell you that I'm going on vacation in about a week, and I'm staying for a week or two weeks. I'm not sure which, yet. But that means that I may not be updating for a bit. Well, that's all for today. Auf Wiedersehen!


	16. Unusual Circumstances

**A/N: **My vacation lasted longer than I thought. Therefore, this chapter took longer to update than I thought. I'm sorry. Classes are really tough this year. 

But I love you guys. In the least creepy, stalkerish way possible. So I'm trying really hard to update.

**xXxXx**

**Chapter Fifteen - Unusual Circumstances**

"Selphie!" Tidus stood up suddenly, leaning over the silver rail that secured them into the ride, causing the car they were in to swing back and forth violently.

Kairi's left hand shot up to clutch the safety bar in front of them in fear of the car flipping over all together, and, noticing that Tidus looked as if he was about to take a halil-mary leap over the side of the ferris wheel, she grabbed the collar of his shirt with her right hand and, practically choking him, forced him back down onto the seat. "Tidus, sit down! There are too many people here to assume that it's Selphie!"

Whirling around to face Kairi as much as he could in the limited amount of space, Tidus sent her the fiercest scowl she ever saw. "And what if it is?"

Kairi froze for a second, stunned by the intense look in his eye, the one that led her to believe that he just about wanted to eat her alive. "Well, then it is probably just her screaming on the rollar coaster, " she reasoned quickly before she could allow herself to be taken aback by Tidus's harsh tone, which was practically a low growl at this point.

"She doesn't go on roller coasters," he stated surely and slowly, as if he was using the last ounce of his patience arguing with her.

Taking deep breaths, Kairi clenched her jaw and did her best to stay patient herslef. This dispute was going nowhere; Tidus was making sure of that. "Then jumping out and smashing your head open won't help her!" she snapped at him exasperatedly in a last attempt to shut him up.

He paused for a momen, still insisting on sighing in protest, but Kairi knew from his lack of words and the defeated look on his face that he had no argument for _that_ and that this debate was over. Not that it was much of a battle since the only choices were Kairi's victory or Tidus going _splat _on the ground below.

Strangely enough, Tidus's choice was the latter.

Kairi glanced over at Tidus again after a few moments of staring forward, off into the distance. He seemed to have calmed down a bit, but his face was still way too pale compared to his usual tanned color, and his hands were still shaking, almost as much as Kairi's. And although Kairi had convinced Tidus to relax momentarily, her won veins were flooding with adrenaline. Her hands trembled almost as fast as her beating heart. What if it _was_ Selphie's scream that had cut through the night air so clearly? Even so, the chances that it was anything to make a big deal about were slim. Still, Kairi had a hard time convincing her paranoid self of that. Why did that scream stand out above all the screams of joy? Why did it sound so much like Selphie? To the point that it was eerie? Why couldn't Kairi forget about it and the bad feeling beginning to spread like darkness through the recesses of her stomach? And Tidus was next to her, even more panicked than Kairi, so it couldn't all be in her head; maybe they were both going insane.

At that moment, Tidus looked over at Kairi, catching her staring at him. She looked away quickly to avoid any more conflict with him, and propped her feet on the front of the cart, figuring that it would be a while yet before they reached the ground. This gave her time to think. What if something really did happen to Selphie? For one, she would have to somehow control the angry, vengeful, probably suicidal beast that was once Tidus. But what about her own conscience? Obviously, Kairi's actions towards Selphie hadn't been the most gratifying in the past few days even though Selphie had been completely supportive, if not a bit harsh, trying to steer Kairi in the right direction. But then she told Sora, the one thing that Selphie knew Kairi didn't want her to do. Why did she have to do that and ruin the trust Kairi was beginning to have for Selphie?

All of this brought her to another thought. Anybody could get into the carnival if they wanted to. The whole event was being held in the huge, open parking lot behind the school, which is, by no means, hidden to the public, and there were no teachers or student council members standing at the gates, filtering who comes in, since it was a free event. And they weren't checking student IDs. Heck, they didn't have student IDs. As long as they could stay under the radar of the chaperones, even a middle-aged person could stroll right in there without anybody caring.

Which means, if Selphie _was_ attacked, anybody could have been the culprit. It could have been . . . No, Kairi couldn't bring herself to think about that..

"Tidus . . . If something happens to Selphie it would be my fault."

Tidus's cerulean orbs flickered over Kairi in a mixture of confusion and surprise. "What?"

"It would be all my fault!" Kairi felt tears forming at the edge of her eyes, but she paid no attention to them as they escated from underneath her eyelids. "And there's noting I can do about it because I'm sitting here all high and mighty and safe on top of this ferris wheel while Selphie's suffering because I had to drag her into _my_ problem!" Kairi's voice had shot up several notes by the end of the sentence, almost to the point of yelling. "And it is my fault. All my-"

"Kairi!" Tidus interrupted her rambling, clasping one of her trembling hands between his own, which, unfortunately, did not have the calming effect for which he was hoping, considering his own hands were shaking almost as much as Kairi's. "Look, have no idea what you're talking about, but if there's something wrong with Selphie, there's no way you could have--"

"No!" She shook her head vigorously, not pulling her hand away from his, as it felt strangely comforting. Despite his attempt to be the strong one, the wide, pleading look on his face, and the hollowness in his voice didn't go unnoticed. Kairi knew in the back of her subconsious that she was the only one who could be strong for both of them, and, at that moment, it was exceptionally clear, but she threw that all to the wind when she blurted out the next part. "No! Some psycho creep has been stalking me, and I had to drag Selphie into it, even though she didn't deserve it, and now she's all alone, and . . ." She cut herself short to avoid breaking out into sobs and freaking Tidus out even more than she already managed to do so.

He stared at her, his expression indecipherable. But the fearful, begging look on set upon his features--the one that practically asked her to laugh and tell him that it was all a cruel joke--was still apparent, asking much too much of what Kairi was capable of at that moment.

Now two people knew. Well, two people of her own will. She knew that she should be horrified at that fact that she just blurted it out to Tidus, who didn't appear to be very mentally stable himself at the time. But instead she felt a huge wave of relief, despite his lack of reaction, as if she could just stand up and scram it at the top of her lungs. Of course, that was a bad idea, but it was an option. And more options made her feel better. More free.

A nagging voice in her mind warned her that it was stupid to tell Tidus, that he could be involved in this whole mess, and, even if he wasn't, he would provide no solace. But that voice had no idea how _ good _she felt right now. She felt . . . well . . . free. Tremors were still racing down her spine, but now it was for a different reason. Despite everything that was happening just then, she didn't want this moment to end. Telling Selphie wasn't like this. It was more forced, like she had to tell her to get the information she needed. But this was different. Though it seemed like a pointless, trivial, and very possibly reckless and dangerous matter, it was the first think Kairi had done of her own free will in the past two days. And that was a big deal to her.

By the time they reached the ground, Tidus still hadn't said anything. As the attendant unbuckled him, he just continued to stare wordlessly and slack-jawed at Kairi. But as soon as their feet touched the concrete, they became extremely focused on the issue at hand, and, right away, Tidus started sprinting towards the bathroom. The direction of the scream was unidentifiable, though, so running in this one particular course would probably come to null, but Kairi had no choice but to run after him and make sure he didn't do something reckless. Of course, due to his head start and athletic speed that made Kairi look like a sloth in comparison, Tidus was yards ahead of her in mere seconds, though, forturnately, at such a speed, he had much difficulty maneuvering through the large crowds of people, which gave a lagging Kairi a chance to catch up.

When she was only about a foot behind him, an arm flew out of the crowd and straight-armed him, blocking his way and causing him to stop abruptly. Kairi, unable to calm her momentum down

in time, ran straight into him and fell to the ground.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to slow down," came a cheerful voice from above her.

Kairi, already sitting up since she landed on her bottom, felt a bit dizzy from the fall. But once the daze cleared, she looked up to find that it was Mr. Takahashi towering over them.

Before Kairi could even comprehend what was happening, she heard Tidus's voice pipe up. "Where's Selphie?"

_Oh! _Of course Mr. Takahashi would be the one to ask for information if anything did happen.

Kairi looked up, also wanted to hear his reaction, but she had no need to wait. His face told her everything. His expression was surprised, but not confused, as if he knew the answer, but he didn't expect Tidus to know the question. Instead of answering, he just shook his head slowly, closing his eyes, and said, "I think you guys should leave now," sounding completely unlike himself. He and Sora were very much alike in the way that is was extremely obvious when either of them were upset about something, which was a rare occurance, though it did happen. Like now. "I was just going to close the gates now."

Both of the students looked around, confused. It was only around eight o'clock--it was announced at school that the carnival would end officially at ten--and there were still way too many peope wandering around the area to close the carnival just yet.

"I'm having someone make an announcement," their teacher explained, noting their skeptical expressions.

Tidus looked around helplessly, desperate to find an answer. His mind was too muddled though. He couldn't make sense of anything, and it was driving him insane. Kairi could tell just by looking at him, and she could have sworn that she saw a flicker of sympathy cross Mr. Takahashi's face, but the moment was over too soon to be sure.

"I don't believe you!" Tidus looked about ready to bolt again, but somone stepped up behind him and grabbed the hood of his sweatshirt before he could go anywhere. It was Sora.

Even after everything that had happened and all the awkwardness she had caused, she had difficulty quelling the convulsion to run to him and embrace him and allow him to convince her that everything would be all right, like he always managed to do. But now, his morose expression was even more alarming than that of Mr. Takahashi. He definitely knew something. Something that, it seemed, everyone except Kairi and Tidus were able to know.

Sora's eyes shot down to Kairi for a moment--a moment to short to decipher any emotion on his face--before they focused on Mr. Takahashi. "Leon's on his way now." His grip on Tidus's hood tightened.

The teacher standing in front of them gave a small confirming nod.

Tidus continued to glance back and forth between the two of them frantically, the ame helpless look on his face, and Kairi was trying her best to decode the messge Sora gave to Mr. Takahashi, almost too afraid to look at either of them.

Suddenly, Leon's voice filled the air overhead, spilling from the randomly placed loud speakers scattered around the area. "Attention, please. Due to unusual circumstances, we have to ask that everyone leave the event, and exit the way they entered. There will be people outside to help you from there." He repeated the announcement as people began to shuffle towards the exit, many mattering profanities and phrases of confusion as they passed.

Kairi and Tidus exchanged glances. Unusual circumstances? How come that sounded really bad?

Sora was staring into the sky, as if Leon would suddenly appear from the darkness. "Well, I'd better get going," he said, shoving his hand into his pockets. As he was saying this, he lowered his head and focused on Mr. Takahashi again, his eyes so cold that Kairi was almost worried that she'd never see Sora's sheepish grin again.

Nodding, the teacher tilted his head in Kairi's direction as if she was an object that needed to be disposed of.

Without any hint of reaction, Sora walked over to stand over Kairi and removed his hand from his pocket to help her up.

For a moment, Kairi contemplated refusing to take his hand until she got the answers she wanted, but she also considered how ridiculous she would look sitting on the ground, pouting. So she stood up with Sora's help. Then, taking Kairi by surprise, Sora scooped up her legs in one hand and supported her upper body with another, raising her against his chest. It's not as if he had never done this before, but those times were fun; this time, Sora meant all business. Before anyone could say anything more, Sora began towards the side exit. Usually, only student council memeber were allowed to use that door, but due to the "unusual circumstances", Kairi assumed, nobody protested. Kairi could feel everyone's eyes on them and she felt like struggling out of Sora's grip, but at this point, her feelings of mixed shock, horror, and, most of all, curiosity were too overpowering to do so.

Once they were outside, Sora turned her upright and set her feet on the ground, allowing her to stand on her won. Even though Sora was no longer restraining her, it felt as if she had lost not only the free movement of her legs, but also the ability to think clearly, for she had no idea what she was going to do, nor what she wanted to do.

Sora seemed to examine her for a moment. "Well, as long as you're not going to run away, then I guess I don't have to carry you all the way back to my house. No that you could outrun me if you wanted to," he added, grinning weakly in a shallow attempt to cheer her up.

Kairi didn't take notice, though, for she was too distracted by his former statement. "Back . . . to your house?"

The grin was still evident on Sora's face, but something was off; it didn't reach his eyes. "Of course. You need to get the stuff that you left at my house last night."

The truth of that statement clicked in Kairi's head at that moment as she realized that she had left her uniform that she was planning on wearing that day at Sora's house. She looked down at her own clothes, confused. "Then . . . How did I get this uniform?"

"Probably Selphie."

Kairi felt a pang of guilt followed by anxiety at the mention of Selphie's name, but she pushed those thoughts out of her mind. She had too many other things to ask Sora. Like "What about your mom?" and "What's wrong with Selphie?" and "Is anything ever going to go back to the way it was?"

But before Kairi could turn any of these thoughts into words, Sora continued. "Yeah, and then, after we get your clothes, we can go back to your house, and I'll stay with you until your mom gets home."

Kairi was so confused at this point. What about Selphie? Was he going to tell her about whatever was happening? Was he going to blame Kairi for it? "What about Tidus?" she asked, the only question she could bring herself to say aloud.

"Leon will take care of him." With that said, Sora pivoted and began walking in the direction of their houses, worried that Kairi was going to inquire more that he couldn't really tell her right now.

Kairi stood there, feeling helpless. "Just tell me what's going on, Sora."

Sora stopped in his tracks and cocked his head, as if he was thinking about telling Kairi the truth, but instead he beckoned to Kairi and said, "Why don't we worry about getting you home safe first."

Without any other choice, Kairi followed him. Once he was sure that he was safely next to him, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open, dialing a number. He held it to his ear for a moment before he began speaking. "Hello? Mom? It's Sora . . . Yeah. I'm bringing Kairi back to get her stuff. We'll be there in about fifteen minutes." Just then his eyes darted over to Kairi, and his voice lowered considerably, as if he didn't want Kairi to hear the next part. "Until then, lock your door."

**xXxXx**


	17. Unusual Circumstances II

**A/N: **I've come back into existence, i.e. I'm caught up on all of my schoolwork, so I figured I'd take this oppurtunity to update. So, thank you, guys. Your encouragement is the only thing that keeps me going.

**xXxXx**

**Chapter Sixteen - Unusual Circumstances II**

"So, it's about time you tell me what's going on," Sora said staring intently at Kairi. They were sitting on Sora's mother's bed, crossed-legged and facing each other. And while Sora did not look away from her once, Kairi was looking at the dresser, the floor, the camera lying on the floor--anything besides what was right in front of her.

"Why are we in here?" She was referring to Sora's mother's room, a place she had never even seen before in all of the years that she and Sora had been friends. She traced the outline of a wolf in the blanket on the bed, considering the best way to go about handling this situation.

Sora rolled his eyes and tried to remain patient with Kairi. She was attempting to change the subject. He knew she would try this. "Because there's no phone. Now answer--"

"Who thought of painting it orange?"

_"Kairi!" _He knew exactly what Kairi was trying to do, but he couldn't give up. He just couldn't let it go this time. Tonight, this had become much more serious than a frivolous curiosity.

Kairi sighed exasperatedly and, still refusing to look at Sora, closed her eyes and turned her head to the ceiling. "Why should I tell you? So you can go brag to Selphie about it?"

He seemed taken aback by the words, and they made no sense to him, but he didn't bother dwelling on it. "I don't know what your talking about. But this thing has become much bigger than just you or me." As if he was trying to see her thoughts, he never took his eyes from the girl across from him.

Finally, Kairi opened her eyes and looked at him. He still wasn't the Sora she knew. His eyes were cold and gray, and he was looking at Kairi in a way that, instead of making her feel better like he usually managed to do, made her feel ten times worse. "That's exactly why you should tell me what's going on. Because this has nothing to do with you. It's between me and Selphie and whoever else I decide to bring into it." Her voice was filled with obvious contempt. How dare he act like this was _his _problem.

It was an understatement to say that the words hurt Sora. For once since they entered the room, he lowered his eyes to the sheets he was sitting on and began to climb off the bed. Once standing, he faced walls with his back to Kairi. "Fine." His voice, to Kairi, sounded monotonous. "I'll bring you home then." This was probably one of the last things Sora wanted to do right now, and there was absolutely no possibility that he would leave Kairi alone tonight of all nights, but he was at a loss. This was the only thing he could think to suggest, because, unlike Kairi, he was not about to sit around and wait for something else to happen.

Kairi just blinked at him in surprise. It was the last thing she had expected to hear from him. It wasn't like Sora to give up so easily. "What?" was all she could manage to stutter out.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he stared at the tangerine-colored wall in front of him, eyeing the various knick-knacks that lined the shelves. "Isn't that what you came for? To get your stuff and bring it home?"

She stared down at the bed. It was difficult even to look at his back. "But . . ." She stayed sitting on the bed, unmoving, and unsure of what to say. She couldn't say that she wanted to stay there, arguing with him, but she wasn't sure she wanted to go home either.

After sending a glance towards Kairi and seeing that she remained where she was, he walked out of his room to, Kairi assumed, go get Kairi's bag from his room. She climbed off the bed to follow him, but then thought better of it and sat back down. The last thing she wanted to do was chase Sora down his long, dark hallway. She had always a a mild phobia of the dark, and the fear only escalated when she now considered what could be lurking out there. so she remained in the room, sitting rigid and still waiting for Sora to return and willing him to hurry for she was beginning to freak herself out again with these thoughts.

When Sora passed by again, this time with Kairi's familiar duffle bag in hand, he motioned with his free hand for her to follow.

As she stood, Kairi tried to think of some excuse to avoid going back to an empty, dark house--to stay with Sora. But all she could do was follow him out the door and down the stairs.

**xXx**

Inside, Kairi had thought it ws too warm and stuffy for comfort, but as soon as she stepped ouside, she shivered at the cold rush of air that his her bare skin, whishing she was back inside the cozy house. The gusts were icy and strong, which, to Kairi, seemed to fit the situation.

Sora, noticing the goosebumps rise on her uncovered arms, put his arm around her shoulders, and, with that simple gesture, all of her feelings of contempt seemed to wash away, at least for the time being, as if they were being carried away with the wind. They continued to walk this way for a few moments in silence before Kairi began to whisper. "If I were to tell you what happened, what would you do?"

In the dark, she couldn't possibly decipher the expression on his face, so she didn't even try, but she felt his breathing hitch.

"I don't know. I can't tell you unless I know what it is."

Kairi nodded, knowing he'd be able to feel the action. " You know, it's not a big deal." She had said it more in an attempt to convince herself, so she would be prepared if Sora said the same thing.

Sora grinned down at her, and , even though Kairi could practically feel the radience from his smile, whcih was enough for her. "If it's a big deal to you, it's a big deal to me."

Kairi didn't return the smile. She looked down at their feet, walking step-in-step with each other even though Sora had to decrease the size of his paces because Kairi's legs were too small to keep up. "Why are you playing dumb?" she whispered.

At first, he didn't answer, and Kairi figured he hadn't heard her, but before she could say anything else, he piped up, "Okay. I give up. I've tried to figure out what your talking about, but I can't. So please enlighten me."

Reluctantly, she pulled away from him, reminding herself of the reasons she was upset with him. "I saw you talking to Selphie earlier. So don't act stupid." She wrapped her arms around herself in attempt to keep the cold out.

"Oh, I guess I should explain about that," he said, mimicking the action. He sounded slightly embarrassed, and Kairi wished she could see his face. "It's more like I _tried_ to talk to her about it, but she wouldn't tell me anything.

This bit of information shocked Kairi more than anything else Sora had said all night. She wondered if she should believe him as they continued walking. There really wasn't any reason she shouldn't have. It's not as if he was denying that he did anything wrong. He was just standing up for Selphie.

Mistaking her silence for anger, he continued. "I'm sorry. I was just worried. I'm still worried."

So he really didn't know? Realizing this, a wave of guilt washed through Kairi. So her hostile actions toward Selphie were unjustified after all. And now, mostly likely because of Kairi, something had happened to Selphie.

"Is that why you weren't speaking to us earlier?"

Before Kairi could say anything in response to Sora's question, her house came into view and her thoughts were replaced by another: Why was her mom still home? She knew that she hadn't left yet because her car was still sitting in the driveway. Kairi knew for a fact that her mom always drove her car rather than having one of her dates pick her up because when Kairi was about eight, one of the guys her mom was going out with came to pick her up, and he was scared away when he found out she had a daughter. Since then, her mom had never taken the chance of having anyone pick her up, and if she was too intoxicated to drive, she'd sleep in her car. But now the car was right there in front of them as they walked into the driveway of Kairi's home. "I wonder why my mom is still home . . ."

Sora shrugged. He wasn't even sure he had ever met Kairi's mom before, so he had no answer. He walked behind her as she walked up the steps of the porch.

When she turned the handle, the door was unlocked. She opened it slowly. But instead of calling out for her mom like she planned, she screamed when she entered the living room.

**xXxXx**

**A/N: **Not my best chapter or my longest, but the next chapter reveals a lot, so be on the look out for that.


	18. Who's in the House?

**A/N: **I have the best reviewers ever. :) Seriously.

**xXxXx**

**Chapter Seventeen - Who is in the House**

Before Kairi's screech could escalate to be too loud, Sora reached out from behind and clasped his hand over her mouth, muffling the screams. "Sh! What's wrong?" he whispered in her ear.

Eyes open wide, Kairi took deep breaths to calm herself, and once she managed to do so, Sora removed his hand from her jaw. Shakily, Kairi lifted a finger and extended her finger to point toward something on the living room floor. Unable to see much more than a dim sillhouette in the dark room, Sora stepped up beside Kairi and took a closer look. Lying on the floor was the figure of a woman with her arms sprawled out to the side. Upon closer inspection, he saw that her face was the face of Kairi's mom.

Before he could stop her again, Kairi ran over to the unmoving body and knelt over it. Even though he knew it was possibly dangerous just being in the house, he followed and stood next to her. "Kairi! We have to get out of here!" he whispered urgently, tugging on her arm lightly.

Ignoring him, Kairi laid her hand on her mother's throat, checking her pulse. Sora had no idea how she could even manage to do so, though, because her hands were shaking so uncontrollably. "What about her? She's still breathing."

Looking at Kairi's face almost made Sora want to give in and put Kairi's mother's safety before everything else. It looked as if she wanted to cry, but wouldn't dare, and Sora could only imagine how helpless she felt right now. He wasn't exactly sure of what was going on right now, but he knew that this person wanted Kairi, not her mom, and, most likely, it would not make a difference to Kairi's mom if they were not there. On the other hand, if they did stick around, then all three of them could be in grave danger.

"We can call 911 on our way. But we need to--" Before he could finish telling Kairi how important is was to get out of the house, Sora heard a loud bang, like the sound of a door slamming, and then the creaking of loose floor boards coming from upstairs. Suddenly, Sora was paralyzed with fear, as he glanced out of the corner of his eye to look at Kairi, who was still hovering over her mother as if she hadn't heard anything. "Did you hear that?" he hissed, hardly audible.

Without looking up, Kairi nodded. Perhaps she was afraid to move also. "It sounds like someone's in the house." Her voice sounded calm, but it was a strained calm and her eyes betrayed her panic.

"We have to get out of here," Sora hissed for the umpteenth time.

Again, Kairi nodded, and, this time, seemed to pick up something on the ground next to her and stuff it into her pocket, and Sora made a mental note to later ask her what it was. "We can go out the back door."

Without answering, Sora, knowing the house almost as well as Kairi herself, helped Kairi out of her kneeling position, and started walking towards the back of the house. Kairi seemed reluctant to leave her mother behind, as she kept stealing glances at her, but she knew as well as Sora that, if not better, that they were all possibly in danger right now. So, she creeped after Sora as quickly as she could while still managing to be silent, trying not to make a single sound. Everytime one of their sneakers made a sound against the linoleum in the kitchen, they cringed, and each time they thought they heard an extra footstep behind them, their hearts raced a bit faster.

Just as they were about halfway through the rather large kitchen, only a few long paces from the door, Kairir's cell phone suddenly started ringing its cheerful, prominent tune.

Sora whipped his head around, eyes as wide as saucers, as he and Kairi stared at each other in desperation. After a few panic-filled moments that seemed to drag on and on, Kairi's hands flew to the pocket of her jeans where the phone was located in attempt to muffle the sounds, but it was futile. The noise still sounded louder in her ears than anything she had heard before. It was as if it would never stop ringing, as if she would go deaf before she stopped hearing it. So, she removed it from her pocket, so she could just hang it up and get it over with. But after she flipped the phone open, instead she just stared at the number glowing on the screen.

"What are you doing?" Sora asked slightly irritated that the phone had not yet been silenced. He wasn't so careful to lower his voice this time because the cell phone would just drown it out anyway.

As her expression became even more incredulous, Kairi turned the phone so the screen was facing him. At first, it just looked like an ordinary phone number, but after a moment, it clikced and he recognized the number. It was one that he dialed so very often, the one of Kairi's home phone. It didn't take him long to realize the signifigance of this; there was definitely someone in the house, and now whoever it was knew that Sora and Kairi were in the house also. Before either of them could do anything more, the cell phone suddenly stopped ringing. For a few moments it was absolutely silent, and Sora knew that they should be high-tailing it out of there, but they were both still too awe-struck to contemplate their next move. Then, Sora heard footsteps running down the stairs, breaking the silence. This put things into perspective for Sora, and he knew that if they just stood there they'd have only a few seconds before they came face-to-face with a stalker. So, throwing caution to the wind, he grabbed Kairi's arm and, practically dragging her, rushed as fast as he could out the back door without looking back or paying any mind to how much.

Once outside, they paid no attention to the cold this time and just ran with Sora pulling Kairi along for she had a hard time keeping up with him. They were running in the direction from which came, but they had no specific destination; they just wanted to get out of there for as long as possible.

About halfway back to his house, Sora's own cell phone started ringing. He stopped running, not only to answer the phone, but they both needed a break, and he wanted to survey the area and see if they were being followed. It didn't seem like it, so he pulled out his cell phone and held it to his ear. "Hello?" he said breathlessly. It was Riku.

"Hey, Sora. You need to come over right away. Bring Kairi and hurry." With that, he hung up without waiting for Sora's answer.

Sora stared at the phone for a moment before putting it back into his pocket and turning to face Kairi. "That was Riku. He says we need to come over right away."

Kairi, too tired to ask any questions, nodded. "Can we please walk this time at least?"

"Yeah," Sora agreed. I don't think anyone's tracking us." Plus, he wanted to keep running in this cold just about as much as Kairi did. So, together, the pair continued towards Riku's house.

**xXx**

Soon enough, Sora and Kairi had reached Riku's house. Actually, his family rented out the second floor of a small house in the center of town which meant they were standing on the upstairs balcony, waiting for Riku to answer their knocking on the door.

"Sora, you still have to call 911 for my mom," Kairi said so quietly, Sora had to strain his ears to listen. Her voice was wavering, and she had an apologetic look on her face, as if she felt an overwhelming guilt for leaving her mother behind.

Sora nodded, assuringly. "Of course. That'll be the first thing we do once we get inside."

When the door did open, a few seconds later, they saw Riku standing in front of him, now covered up with shorts and a t-shirt. And he wasn't alone.

**xXxXx**

**A/N: **Well, I'm really sick right now, so I feel half-dead, but I promised some of you that I would have this chapter updated by this weekend, so here you go. The next chapter will definitely be longer, plus it won't take three months to update either. I promise. ;)


	19. Riku's Theory

**A/N: **This chapter was surprisingly easy for me to write. So enjoy. :)

**xXxXx**

**Chapter Eightteen- Riku's Theory**

"Come in." Riku stepped aside in order to let his friends into the somewhat small room. His voice was grave and his face drawn, which was not particularly unusual for Riku—at least not like it was for Sora—but it did not serve very well as reassurance for Kairi.

Upon entering, Kairi and Sora noticed standing on the other side of Riku was Wakka, restrained by Riku's grip on his elbow. This immediately alarmed Kairi, and after glancing at Sora, she could see by the way he was eyeing him that he hadn't been expecting to see Wakka either, which was even more unnerving to Kairi.

The two of them just stood there for a moment, Kairi waiting for Sora to move, and Sora looking Wakka up and down with something akin to disgust before saying, "I think I already know what this is about, and I really don't want to," and turning away to walk into the room. Kairi followed him, lowering her eyes when she passed Riku and Wakka; she didn't want to see their expressions, to have to face the truth. Even though she wasn't quite so sure what that truth entailed, she knew it wasn't something that she was to be ecstatic about.

Inside the room, Tidus sat on the floor at the foot of the couch with Leon standing next to him, arms crossed like a body guard ready to jump into action at his slightest move. Kairi wondered briefly how Tidus's night had gone up until now. Probably not too much better than hers. He _did _look more mentally stabilized than he did the last time she saw him, though. His eyes and mouth betrayed no emotion at all; he just sat there, watching them with a serious look on his face, which was almost as rare for Tidus as it was for Sora.

Sora sat down on the couch before getting up again and pacing in front of it, holding his head as if he had a horrible migraine. "Wakka . . . Wakka, _Wakka,_" he muttered in a criticizing manner, as if Wakka was a four-year-old who had just been caught drawing all over the walls.

Kairi also settled herself on the sofa right next to where Tidus was sitting on the floor, but, unlike Sora, she remained there. Beginning to feel a bit dizzy, she wasn't even sure she would be able to stay standing upright, so she gave up on that idea right away.

It was impossible to ignore the unbearable absence of Selphie.

Once he could see that everyone, save for Sora, was comfortable—at least as comfortable as they were going to get under these circumstances—Riku closed the door and locked it without loosening his grip on Wakka. His parents were out on business, but he wanted to be certain that he would not be interrupted or inconvenienced in any way as he tried to make his announcement.

All but dragging Wakka along with him, Riku marched into the center of the room and faced the others with so much intensity it seemed as if he was about to give the speech of his life.

Kairi had noticed that Wakka wasn't even trying to struggle against Riku. Then again, who would dare in his position? No one ever participated in a physical challenge with Riku under the delusion that they would actually come out victorious.

Before speaking, Riku studied each of their faces carefully, figuring how to best go about saying what he had to say. Kairi's gaze lingered on just Tidus as she tried to figure out whether or not he knew what this whole thing was about. He was staring back, perhaps trying to determine the same thing about her.

"After Selphie was attacked," Riku began after a few moments.

"So Selphie _was _attacked," Kairi interrupted, saying it more as a statement than as a question. It wasn't exactly surprising, but she could still feel her heart drop into her stomach. Since she still didn't know just how bad Selphie's fate was at the moment, she decided not to dwell on it for the time being and rather concentrate on what Riku was saying. One guilt trip was enough for the evening.

Tidus glanced back and forth between Wakka and Kairi, putting two and two together. "Wakka?" he whispered desperately, as if he wished for nothing more than for Wakka to deny it and tell him that Riku was lying.

Sora, silent up until now, had stopped pacing and was now glaring at Riku. At first Kairi thought that it might be because Riku had just blurted out what Sora had been trying to keep to himself all night, but then he said, "We don't know that she was attacked," practically growling as if he was resisting the compulsion to strangle Riku right then and there.

Riku shrugged. He didn't seem fazed. "Fine. But keep your mind open when I tell you what I brought you here to say."

His interest piqued, Sora didn't resume his pacing. He just stared at Riku, as if willing him to continue.

Making sure that everyone was done with their comments, Riku took a deep breath and continued. "Okay. After Selphie's '_incident',_" he began, shooting a fleeting look in Sora's direction, "I left, unbeknownst to Mr. Takahashi of course, to see what I could find out about the incitement of this '_incident'. _About ten minutes later, I decide to give up and take the shortcut home. On my way there, I found Wakka running towards the center of town, away from the carnival and away from his house. He was taking the long way, too. This had me confused. So, I cut him off and asked him if he knew anything about Selphie. He wouldn't answer anything, but he wouldn't deny anything either. So I brought him back here. He didn't struggle or object or anything. He had me downright confused but he definitely knows something."

The whole time Riku was talking, Wakka was looking at the ground, appearing to be almost frustrated.

The other four looked at each other, waiting for someone to say something. But what was one supposed to say to this?

Finally Wakka looked up and surveyed their reactions. They were all staring at him with the same questioning stare, waiting for answers. "I didn't do it."

Riku's knuckles became white as his grip tightened. "Oh, _now_ you deny it?" he asked accusingly.

Sora's eyes widened as something clicked in his head. "Wait. I don't think he's lying."

Everyone's eyes were focused on Sora's face now, as they waited for him to elaborate. Riku raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you still going with your theory that Selphie wasn't attacked?"

"No. But Kairi and I were just at her house and—" He cut himself off in order to glance at Kairi to see if she was beginning to understand what he was getting at.

Fortunately, the same light bulb went off for her and she nodded, almost smiling because it meant that Wakka may be innocent after all. "Yeah. There was someone in the house. And—" Everyone turned to her this time, and she found it difficult to take in their horrified expressions.

Noticing this, Sora finished for her. "We can't explain right now, but someone else _was _in the house. And it wasn't a friendly someone either."

Kairi winced as images of her mother flashed through her mind.

"Point is," Sora continued doing his best to avoid scratching the surface of Kairi's comfort zone, "Even if Wakka does have something to do with this, he couldn't have been the one in the house; the timing is all wrong. So it's _possible _that Wakka's not the one who attacked Selphie."

Riku considered this for a moment, but he still didn't seem convinced. "That still doesn't explain his suspicious behavior."

Wakka put his free hand up to quiet everyone. "Look, it's true I didn't do it, ya? But that doesn't mean I don't know something. Maybe I should explain."

**xXxXx**

**A/N: **The next chapter will be an extremely important one. That is where many of the questions (but not all of course) will be answered. So if you don't understand something just yet, don't worry. It will probably be explained in further detail.


	20. Wakka's Story

**A/N: **I can't believe this took so long to update. But between my knee surgery and school, I really haven't had the oppurtunity to work on this very much. And then of course, I lost my notebook. Again. So I'm sorry, and please enjoy this chapter.

**xXxXx**

**Chapter Nineteen - Wakka's Story**

_The Night Before . . . _

_RING RING RING_

Wakka turned up the volume on his iPod, but it did nothing to help drown out the shrieking noise of the phone that was now filling the house. For some reason that Wakka was unsure of, the phone had been ringing nonstop for the past two hours in his house, which he shared with his grandmother and older sister. He knew there were worse things in life than having to listen to the phone ring, but this thought didn't comfort him or assist in perserving his sanity as he prayed for nine o'clock to come so he could get out of the house and head over to Tidus's. Even asking his grandmother what was going on was out of the question, because if the phone wasn't ringing, then she was locked in her bathroom, talking to some unknown person.

Just then, Wakka's phone lit up and began vibrating on the bed next to him. At first he considered just throwing it out the open window and officially giving up phones forever, but he dismissed the idea and instead picked it up and answered it after removing the headphones from his ears. "Wakka here."

"Hey, Man." It was Tidus. "I'm just calling to make sure your still coming over tonight to watch the blitzball tournament."

"Yeah. I wouldn't miss it if you gave me a million dollars." It wasn't exactly an exaggeration.

"All right!" Wakka could practically hear Tidus grinning on the other end of the line. "See you then."

There was a click on the other end before Wakka could say anything more. Dropping the phone in its original place on the bed, the boy proceeded to pick up his headphones again. Before he could get them anywhere near his ears, the phone beside him vibrated again, this time accompanied by a small beep to indicate an incoming text message. After fiddling with the buttons for a few seconds, the message was opened. Although it was short, Wakka reread the words displayed on the miniature screen several times.

_'I'm watching you.'_

"I'm watching you"? The puzzeled teenager studied the message. The sender's number was unfamiliar to him. It was probably a joke. After all, it was just like Tidus or Sora to give Wakka's number to a random schoolmate and say, "Text this guy and freak him out a bit." Pressing the 'close' button on his phone, Wakka put the text message behind him and opted to turn on his television instead of attempting to listen to his iPod again, since that didn't seem to be working out so well.

As he stood up to reach for the remote resting on the dresser across from the bed, the phone behind him beeped again. He considered ignoring it, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he opened it right away.

'_What? You don't believe me?'_

"You'd be right," Wakka said to the mystery texter, though whoever it was couldn't hear him. Or so he thought.

A new message came only moments later.

_'Well, I may be right, but you, My Friend, are wrong.'_

Only now was Wakka beginning to become a bit freaked out. He studied the number again, and he definitely didn't recognize it. All he could tell about this person is that he or she was a speed-texter, and they were either a really good guesser or there really _was _some psycho watching him.

When the next text arrived, he already had his inbox open, waiting on edge for it.

'_If you need proof, then we'll test it. Go ahead and say something aloud. It can be anything.'_

Wakka, understanding the general gist of the message said the first random thing that came to mind. "The buckets are yellow."

The next message came only moments after the words left his mouth.

'_The buckets are yellow.'_

The text quoted his works exactly. This had to be some sort of cruel prank. Now what was he supposed to do? Call the police? Tell his sister?

_'And make sure no one finds out about this. I know more about you than you know about me. I could hurt you more easily than you could hurt me.'_

Whoever it was had a point. Right now he could only do as he was told. And wait for the next message to light up his phone. "What now you're a mind reader?" he asked aloud, knowing very well this time that this person could hear him, though he still felt a little strange talking to someone he couldn't see.

'_No. I just know how a simple-minded teenage boy's brain works. Now, be a good boy and calls this number. I'd like to talk to you more personally. Keep in mind, this isn't even my phone, and I'd have no qualms ditching it if you try anthing cliever. I can see your every move after all.'_

It seemed to Wakka that, not only were the messages becoming longer and creepier, but they were also arriving quicker, and he couldn't help but wondering how the person on the other end of the message managed to text so quickly. Pushing this thought aside, he reluctantly did as he was told, and began dialing the number that he had practically memorized.

Wakka didn't really want to be any part of this, which he was still half-convinced was a prank, but since he was, he figured he might as well go along with it. Besides, he was more than anxious to find out what exactly he would hear when the person on the other end picked up.

The phone only rang once. There was a click, but no greeting on the other end. Just the sound of someone else's breathing.

Wakka wasn't exactly sure what to say or if he should say anything at all. "Um, Wakka here."

"Yes, Wakka, I know it's you." The voice was unrecognizable, as the speaker was obviously using some device to disguise his voice. In fact, he sounded almost like a chipmunk, and, if not for the intensity of the situation, Wakka would have had a difficult time taking this person seriously. "I need you to listen to me."

Assuming that it would be better to just let him continue talking, Wakka said nothing in response.

"This is what I need you to do," the voice continued after a short pause. "Leave your cell phone on and keep it with you. I'll text you from time to time. All you need to do is whatever the message says to do. Simple, right?"

No response. Wakka still couldn't help but feel that he was being ordered around by Chip and Dale.

Now his tone was becoming annoyed. "You wouldn't want something to happen to you or your friend, Kairi, would you?"

"What do you know about Kairi?!" Wakka blurted out without thinking.

"Well, don't become egotistical. You're not the only one I'm keeping tabs on."

Wakka bit his toungue to avoid another outburst as that wouldn't help anything.

The person on the other end waidted to see if Wakka would say anything more before he went on in his condescending chipmunk tone. "But as long as you do what I say, she will stay perfectly safe, along with all of your other friends and loved ones."

Biting his toungue yet again, Wakka silently vowed to find out what this creep wanted with Kairi, but for now, he could only say, "Okay."

**xXx**

Wakka laid on his bed, replaying in his head the conversation he had had with Mr. Chipmunk, the nickname he had come up with for the mystery person he had talking to not even two hours ago. The phones downstairs were still ringing nonstop, but his own phone had remained silent since then. He had no edia what to expect from this guy or when to expect it, but he knew, whatever it was, it wouldn't be pleasant. He had, in fact, received a text message after an hour or so, and Wakka's heart had raced as he opened it, but it was only from Tidus, yet again confirming Wakka's visit at ten.

Glancing at the clock, Wakka realized that it was about time for him to leave for Tidus's. Mr. Chipmunk hadn't siad that he couldn't leave the house, and, though the thought of stepping outside with some weirdo watching his every move unnerved him, the option of staying alone in his room the whole night with the same weirdo watching creeped him out even more. He stuck his cell phone in his pocket, remembering Mr. Chipmunk's condition, but just as he stood up to grab his overnight bag, in case he decided to stay over, the phone vibrated. Sure enough it was a text message. And this time it wasn't from Tidus.

_'Before you leave, I have a favor to ask. Call Kairi. Be sure to block the number. Don't say anything, but stay on the line. Freak her out a bit. You'll be able to leave and go to Tidus's hould soon after, but waid until I tell you to.'_

To be sure he understood the directions perfectly, Wakka reread the message three times. He was supposed to call Kairi? To freak her out? Wakka tried to decipher the purpose of this, but it make no sense. It wasn't like he was completely keen on the thought of tormenting his friend, but Mr. Chipmunk's threat kept ringing through his mind.

_"You wouldn't want something to happen to you or your friend, Kairi, would you?"_

Wakka picked up the phone and began dialing.

The phone only rang once before she picked up the phone, as if she were standing right next to it. He practically winced when he heard her voice. He would ahve enjoyed doing this to Tidus, or even Sora, but why did it have to be Kairi.

"Hello?" Her voice seemed to be shaking a bit, but Wakka figured he was only imagining it.

He didn't say anthing, despite his lingering compulsion to tell her to get out because "he's" watching. The only thing stopping him was the threat playing over and over in his head. So he just breathed heavily into the phone as he was told. Actually the whole thing seemed way too old-school-horrible-effects-horror movie for him, but he wasn't about to argue with his directions.

He almost thought he heard a chuckle from the other end.

"Sora, is that you?"

Wakka said nothing.

"Hey, did you send me this IM--"

Unable to take it anymore, Wakka hung up. He was ordered to call and freak her out a bit, not sit there and listen to her have a desperate conversation with herself while his conscience ate at hime.

He sat there on the bed, thinking about what just happened, what _was_ happening, and what his options were, though he didn't have much time to do so. Only a few seconds later, his phone lit up with another message, and he didn't need three tried to guess who it was.

_'Okay. That will suffice for now. But I need you to do something else this time. Go out the the alley near Tidus's house and wait there. You're headed in that direction anyway, no?'_

To respond to him, Wakka decided to text him back this time, because he felt ridiculout talking to someone he was unable to see.

"What will I be waiting for?" he typed in quickly.

The next message took longer than the others, even though it was fairl shorter.

'_You'll see when the time comes.'_

**xXx**

Wakka stood, as he was told, waiting inthe alley, silently. He had been there for only about two minutes, which seemed like an eternity so far, and he had not the slightest notion how much longer he would be there. Standing in the shadows to avoid detection, his initial concern, besides the fact that he might have been called out here so that Mr. Chipmunk could stab him or something, was that someone might see him and think that he's some sort of rapist. But those thoughts were soon replaced as he wondered what exactly he was supposed to be waiting for. All he could do it trust what Mr. Chipmunk said about knowing when the time is right.

And just then, it came to him, because standing in front of him in the spotlight was Kairi. First he was supposed to call her and now this? For whatever reason, there was some creepy jurd out there who was obsessed with Kairi, and the only one who could get to the bottom of it was Wakka.

**xXxXx**


End file.
